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NOME NUGGETS. 



SOME OF THE EXPERIENCES OF A PARTY OF 

GOLD SEEKERS IN NORTHWESTERN 

ALASKA IN 1900. 



By L H. French, M.D. 

Late Senior Major 3rd U. S. V. Cavalry-. 

IN CHARGE OF THE EXPEDITION OF THE CAPE NOME HYDRAULIC 
MINING COMPANY. 



MONTROSS, CLARKE & EMMONS, Publishers, 
51 Nassau Street, New York. 



1901. 



I LiTorsiT-y of ConpreBS 

Two Copies Rfcrtv^o 
FEB 6 190) 



L 



RBSTCOPY 






Copyrighted, 1901, by L. H. French. 

Copyright 

Imperfect 

Claim. 

!SD '01 



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Gold, gold, gold, gold, 
Bright and yellow, hard and cold ; 
Molten, graven, hammered, rolled. 
Heavy to get, and light to hold ; 
Stolen, borrowed, squandered, doled. 

— Thomas Hood. 



TO THE 

STOCKHOLDERS 

OF THE 

CAPE NOME HYDRAULIC MINING COMPANY, 
OF NEW YORK AND ALASKA, 

THE PROTECTION OF WHOSE INTERESTS ON THE SUMNER 

PENINSULA GAVE RISE TO THE EXPERIENCES 

OF THE WRITER, THESE NOTES ARE 

RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Anent the Author (Preface) 9 

Gold 11 

The Author's Preface 19 

CHAPTER I. 

Departure from New York — Scenes at Seattle — Voyage to the frozen North- 
Riotous shipmates — First sight of Eldorado — Conditions at Cape Nome.. 25 

CHAPTER II. 

The beach at Cape Nome — General appearance of a county fair — Beach not 
worth fighting for — " Poor Man's Diggings" too poor to satisfy any but 
the very poor men — We abandon the beach and try the creeks 34 

CHAPTER III. 

Nome City — Prices — Conditions of people — Loss from storms — Claim jumping 
— A trespassing corpse — Plenty of work for everyone — The sick and 
destitute 44 

CHAPTER IV. 
The creeks — Rich pay-dirt — Chances for a fortune lost — Wild tales of gold 50 

CHAPTER V. 

The natives — Probable origin — Mode of life — Travels — Voyage in an Eskimo 

packet — Clothing — Food — Ideas of money values 59 

CHAPTER VI. 

The danger from storms — Sudden fury of Behring Sea — Great and frequent loss 

of life and property by wave action — Storm of September 12, 1900 67 

CHAPTER VII. 

The Bluestone District ; the richest of all Alaskan districts — Grantly, Port 

Clarence, Gold Run Creek — Richness — Future 73 



viii. CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

PAGE 

Routes to the gold fields — Safety of all-water route — Transportation on the 
fields — Lack of harbor accommodations — Nome's only railroad — Snow 
and ice — Winter weather — Climate — Yukon & Behring Straits Railway.. 76 

CHAPTER IX. 
Railroad building in Alaska 81 

CHAPTER X. 

Origin of the gold deposits in Northwest Alaska — Character of the country — 
The Tundra Creek country — Nuggets — Pockets — Rich placers — Some 
strange gulches — Placer work 83 

CHAPTER XI. 

Flora and Fauna — No timber — Driftwood — Tundra moss — Wild fruits — Trout 

and salmon — Seals — Alaskan dogs — Reindeer 89 

CHAPTER XII. 

In conclusion — Hard facts — Some " don'ts " — Nome lies and liars — The start 
home under unfavorable conditions — Lack of food — Adrift in Behring 
Sea — A friend indeed — Seattle again 96 



APPENDIX. 
The American Mining Laws 100 



ANENT THE AUTHOR. 



" Oh, that mine enemy would write a book," and he did. 



Not only I, but a round dozen adventurous gold seekers (by 
proxy) entrusted our earthly hopes, so far as Alaska is concerned, to 
"The Major". He, with an "outfit", invaded the most recently 
discovered Ultima Tlmle, meeting with many stirring adventures and 
unusual experiences en route to and from and while at the Eldorado of 
the frozen North. He did, on many occasions, deliberately and sys- 
tematically " do things " in the interest of the adventurous Syndicate, 
whose only participation in his labors, hardships and privations was 
the supplying of a portion of the coin of the realm ; the aforesaid 
coin being necessary to determine if the sands of the extreme north- 
western corner of our continent, washed by the icy billows of Behring 
Sea, really contained gold enough to warrant mining operations on an 
extensive scale. 

Major L. H. French knows of what he writes and writes of w^hat he 
knows in a manner so modest as to omit man}' of the most interesting 
incidents of his voyage, in order to avoid the too frequent use of the 
personal pronoun. 

Major French spent much of his early life on a ranch, and there 
became an ardent lover of athletic sports, a good horseman, sure shot, 
and expert camper ; later, he travelled extensively in Europe, and 
made several trips into the interior of North Africa in pursuit of big 
game. After a few years' practice of medicine in the national Capitol, 
he was given a major's commission and assigned to the 3d U. S. V. 
Cavaliy. At the close of the Spanish- American war, he engaged in 
mining. 

To a man who knows the freedom of mountain, forest and plain, 
who appreciates the absolute independence which can only be had with 
a good horse between his legs, a cavalry sabre dangling under his 
bridle-hand, and the butt of a six-shooter invitingly caressing his right 
forearm as it rises and falls to the easy lope of a cross-country spin, 
the practice of medicine is an impossibility. Thus it was that Leigh 



X. ANENT THE AUTHOR. 

H. French, M. D., ceased colaborating with the undertaker and cor- 
oner, and Major French, U. S. A., became first a cavalry officer, next 
an argonaut, and, at the request of his associates, an author. This, 
being an opportunity not to be overlooked, is the cause of my personal 
attack on him at this crucial moment. 

J. Chari.es Davis, 
"The Birches," 
November loth, 1900. Richmond Hill, N. Y. 



GOLD. 

[From "Getting Gold," by J. C. F. Johnson, F. G. S.] 

GOLD is a name to charm by. It is desired by all nations, and is 
the one metal the supply of which never exceeds the demand. 
It has been said, " Gold is the most potent substance on the .surface 
of our planet ' ' . 

It has been repeatedly asserted that the deposits in the sands of 
the beaches of Behring Sea, in the vicinit}' of Cape Nome, are unique ; 
when, in reality, mining operations similar to those carried on at Nome 
last summer, have been carried on since the world began. It is aston- 
ishing how little the average man of business knows of gold. 

That this much appreciated metal is heavy to get is proved by the 
high value which has been placed on it from times remote to date, and 
that it is light to hold most of us know to our cost. 

We read no farther than the second chapter in the Bible when we 
find mention of gold. There Moses speaks of " the land of Havilah, 
where there is gold ;" and in Genesis, Chapter XXIV, we read that 
Abraham's servants gave Rebekah an earring of half a shekel weight, 
say 4 dwt. 13 grs., and two "bracelets of ten shekels weight", or 
about 4^ ozs. Throughout the Scriptures, and, indeed, in all historic 
writings, we find frequent mention of the king of metals, and always 
it is spoken of as a commodity highly prized. 

Either we are mistaken in the weights used by the Hebrew 
nation in early days, or the arithmetic of those times was not quite 
"according to Cocker". We read, I. Kings X and XLI, that Solo- 
mon in one year received no less than six hundred and three score and 
six talents of gold. If a talent of gold was, as has been assumed, 
3,000 shekels of 219 grains, the value of the golden treasure accumu- 
lated in this one year by the Hebrew king would have been ^3,646,350 
sterling. Considering that the only means of ' ' getting gold ' ' in those 
days was a most primitive mode of washing it from river sands, or a 
still more difiicult and laborious process of breaking the quartz from 
the lode without proper tools or explosives, and then slowly grinding 
it by hand labor between two stones, the amount mentioned is truly 
enormous. 



xii. GOLD. 

Of this treasure the Queen of Sheba, who came to visit the He- 
brew monarch, contributed a hundred and twenty talents, or, say, 
$3,000,000 worth. Where the land of Ophir, whence this golden lady 
came, was really situated has evoked much controversy, but there is 
now a general opinion that Ophir was on the east coast of Africa, 
somewhere near Delagoa Bay, in the neighborhood of the Limpopo and 
Sabia Rivers. It should be mentioned that the name of the ' ' black but 
comely" queen was Sabia, which may or may not be a coincidence, 
but it is certainly true that the rivers of this district have produced 
gold from prehistoric times till now. 

The discover},' of remarkable ruins in Mashonaland, which evince 
a high state of civilization in the builders, may throw some light on 
this interesting subject. 

The principle value of gold is as a medium of exchange, and its 
high appreciation is due, first, to the fact that it is in almost universal 
request ; and, secondly, to its comparative scarcity ; yet, oddly enough, 
with the exception of that humble but serviceable metal, iron, gold is 
the most widely distributed metal known. Few, if any, countries, do 
not po.s,sess it, and in most parts of the world, civilized and uncivilized, 
it is mined for and brought to market. The torrid, temperate and 
frigid zones are almost equall}- auriferous. Siberia, mid- Asia, most 
parts of Europe, down to equatorial and Southern Africa in the Old 
World, and North, Central and Southern America, with Australasia, 
in what may be termed the New World, are all producers of gold in 
payable quantities. 

In the earlier ages, the principle source of the precious metal was 
probably Africa, which has always been prolific in gold. To this day 
there are to be seen, in the southern provinces of Egypt, excavations 
and the remains of old mine buildings and appliances left by the an- 
cient gold-miners, who were mostly state prisoners. Some of these 
mines were worked by the Pharaohs of, and before, the time of Moses; 
and in these dreadful places thousands of Lsraelites were driven to 
death by the taskmaster's whip. 

The first mode of obtaining this much desired metal was, doubt- 
less, by washing the sand of rivers which flowed through auriferous 
strata. Some of these, such as the Eydian Stream, Pactolus, were 
supposed to renew their golden stores miraculously each year. What 
really happened was that the winter floods detached portions of 
auriferous drift from the banks, which, being disintegrated by 
the rush and flow of the water, would naturally deposit in the 




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. T 2 



GOLD. XV. 

still reaches and eddies any gold that "might be contained therein. 

The mode of washing was exactly that carried on by the natives 
in some districts of Africa to-day. iV wooden bowl was partly filled 
with auriferous sand and mud, and, standing knee-deep in the stream, 
the operator added a little water, and caused the contents of the bowl 
to take a circular motion, somewhat as the modern digger does with 
his tin dish, with this difference, that his ancient prototype allowed 
the water and lighter particles to escape over the rim as he swirled the 
stuff round and round. I presume, in finishing the operation, he col- 
lected the golden grains by gently lapping the water over the reduced 
material, much as we do now. 

Gold differs in its mode of occurrence from other metals in man}- 
respects : but there is no doubt that it was once held in acqueous solu- 
tion and deposited in its metallic form by electro-chemical action. It 
is true we do not find oxides, carbonates, or bromides of gold in nature, 
nor can we feel quite sure that gold now exists naturally as a sulphide, 
chloride, or silicate, though the presumption is strongly that it does. 
If so, the deposition of gold may be ceaselessly progressing. 

It is well known that much disappointment and loss accrue 
through lack of knowledge by prospectors, who, with all their enter- 
prise and energy, are often very ignorant, not only of the probable lo- 
cality, mode of occurrence, and widely differing appearance of the 
various minerals, but also of the best means of locating and testing the 
ores when found. 

All of us who have had much to do with mining know that the 
majority of the best mineral finds have been made by the purest acci- 
dent ; often by men who had no mining knowledge whatever ; and 
that many valuable discoveries have been delayed, or when made, 
abandoned as not payable, from the same cause — ignorance of the rudi- 
ments of mineralogy and mining. 

What the prospector requires to know is, first, the usual locality 
of occurrence of the more valuable minerals ; secondly, their appear- 
ance ; thirdly, a simple mode of testing. With respect to occurrence, 
the older sandy and clay .slates, chorite slates, micaceous, and horn- 
blendic schists, particularly at or near their junction with the intrusive 
granite and diorite, generally form the most likely geological countr^^ 
for the finding of mineral lodes, particularly gold, silver and tin. But 
those who have been engaged in practical mining for long, finding by 
experience that no two mineral fields are exactl}^ alike in all their char- 
acteristics, have come to the conclusion that it is unwise to form 



xvi. GOLD. 

theories as to why metals should or should not be found in certain 
enclosing rocks or matrices. 

Old river beds, formed of gravelly drifts in the same neighborhood, 
may probably contain alluvial gold ; or shallow deposits of ' ' wash ' ' 
on hillsides and in valleys, will often carry good surface gold. This is 
sometimes due to the denudation, or wearing awa}^ of the hills con- 
taining quartz veins, which, popular opinion to the contrary', is not 
always the ca.se. 

Much disappointment and loss of time and money may sometimes 
be prevented if prospectors will realize that all alluvial gold does not 
come from the quartz veins or reefs ; and that following up an alluvial 
lead, no matter how rich, will not inevitably develop a payable gold 
lode. Sometimes gold, evidently of reef origin, is found in the al- 
luvial ; but in that ca.se it is generally fine as regards the size of the 
particles, more or less sharp-edged, or crystalline in form if recently 
shed ; while such gold is often of poorer qualit}' than the true alluvial 
which occurs in mammillary nuggets, it is of a far higher degree of 
purity as gold. 

The ordinary non-.scientist digger will do well to give credence to 
this view of the case, and will often thereby save himself much useless 
trouble. Sometimes also the alluvial gold, coarser in .size than true 
reef -born alluvial, is derived almost in sihi from small quartz "leaders", 
or veins, which the grinding down of the surface of the .slates has ex- 
posed ; the.se leaders also in time being broken and worn, set free the 
gold they have contained ; this does not, as a rule, travel far ; but 
sometimes becomes water-worn b}' the rubbing over it of the disin- 
tegrated fragments of the rock. 

But the heavy, true alluvial gold, in great pure mas.ses, mammil- 
lar}- or botryoidal (like a bunch of grapes) in shape, have assuredly 
been formed by accretion of some metallic base — from gold salts in 
.solution, probabl}- choride, but possibly sulphide. 

Prospecting for alluvial gold at shallow depths is a comparativeh^ 
ea.sy process, requiring no great amount of technical knowledge. 
Usually the first gold is got at or near the surface, and then traced to 
deep leads, if such exi.st. 




PREFACE. 

This book has been written and published principally for distribu- 
tion among those who are interested, with me, in the Cape Nome dis- 
trict, in the Cape Nome Hydraulic Mining Company, and among my 
friends. If it contains any information valuable to those who intend 
to visit these new and wonderful placers, I shall be very glad. There 
is no country which offers such splendid opportunities to an energetic 
young man as Alaska ; though the reader should remember that there 
are many hardships to endure, .should he undertake such a journe^^ 
and that the making of a fortune is by no means assured. 

Gold was first discovered at Nome in July, 1898. The discovery 
was made by men who had been up the coast, who were returning, and 
whose schooner was capsized in a storm off the mouth of Snake 
River. After doing a little prospecting they hastened to Golovin Bay 
where they induced others to return with them to Cape Nome. A con- 
siderable number of men did so and made valuable discoveries on the 



XX. PREFACE. 

creeks, the presence of gold in the beach not being then known. By this 
time, as winter was setting in, they went back to Golovin Bay. Of 
course, after they arrived there, the news being too good to keep, every 
one heard of their kick. In a few hours there was a general stampede 
from Golovin Bay to the new diggings. Word was sent to Council 
City, and on the i8th of November the exodus from that place began. 
Shorth- afterwards the news reached St. Michael, where men from 
Nome had gold dust to back up their statements, and spent it freely, 
in stores and with trading companies, for mining tools and provisions 
to take back with them. 

This caused a great deal of excitement among the employes of the 
stores at St. Michael. In five days man}^ had secured dog teams and 
provisions, and were on their way over the ice to the new land of 
gold. 

In three weeks the place was nearly deserted, the same being the 
case with other small camps nearby. The news spread to the villages 
along the Yukon. Soon scores of dog teams, laden with provisions, 
passed through St. Michael, en route for this icy Eldorado. 

Most of the men had powers of attorney to stake claims for their 
friends — some even had powers of attorney for their wives and children 
in the States. In this way claims in the Nome district were taken up. 
In a short time, when navigation opened, newcomers could find little 
ground that was not staked. During the summer of 1899 about five 
thousand people gathered near Cape Nome, and whatever ground re- 
mained unclaimed was then taken up. Gold was found in abundance. 
The transportation companies were largely instrumental in advertising 
the supposed richness of the beach. During the summer of 1900 gold 
remained in the beach at Cape Nome in small quantities, i)ut the best 
of it had been taken out in 1899. 

The great richness of the country, which can hardly be over- 
estimated, lies not in the beach, but in the interior. vSo far only placer 
claims have been worked, although many valuable quartz claims have 
been located, and next season will see many of them in operation. 

The climate of Nome is, for the most part, anything but agreeable. 
The weather during last July was ideal, the mean temperature being 
52° F., though the nights were very cold. In August continuous 
rain set in, accompanied by high winds. Only those who are physi- 
cally strong should venture into this country, as the hardships to be 
endured are of the severest kind. Those going there should, under no 
circumstances, take their wives and children. 



PREFACE. xxl. 

In June, 1899, gold was discovered in the sands of Nome beach. 
So many different stories have been told as to the manner in which 
gold was discovered in the sands on the shores of Behring Sea, that it 
is difficult to find two men who agree exactly as to the facts of the dis- 
covery- . The accepted version is that one of the earl}' gold seekers, 
being striken with scurvy and unable to work, spent a number 
of hours each day on the beach, in order to avail himself of the old 
time whaleman's cure of sand and salt water. In order to occupy his 
time he took a miner's pan with him and, in a short time, established 
the fact that gold in large paying quantities could be found in the 
sands. This, undoubtedly, caused the first real operations in that line 
by white men ; although it is more than probable that the natives had 
taken gold from the sands long before this, as the early traders found 
rudely fashioned gold ornaments among them. As no trace of their 
mining in the interior has ever been discovered, we must draw the 
aforementioned conclusion. 

Quite a number of idle men made rockers and started to work ; 
and even some of the business men sold out and went to rocking. As 
soon as the miners, working on the creeks for wages, knew that many 
of these men were making from $15 to $100 a day, they threw down 
their picks and shovels and made for the shore. In an incredibly short 
time the beach was literally covered with men and rockers, work on 
the creeks being materially interfered w'ith. 

The beach diggings are about two hundred feet in width. They lie 
between the ocean and the tundra. The tundra is elevated from ten 
to thirty feet above sea level, stretching back four to six miles to the 
foothills. It is composed of frozen moss and muck ; its surface being 
dotted with small lakes. 

Beach gold is very fine and hard to save ; some of it will actually 
float, with sand, out of a gold pan. It is found on a false bed rock of 
blue clay. There are from one to three pay streaks of ruby (garnet) 
sand. The pay streaks vary from one to four inches in thickness, 
with a bed rock two to six feet deep. 

Of the beach, however, I shall have little to say. Its richness 
was ephemeral, although the vast wealth of the interior exceeds, by far, 
the most sanguine expectations ever entertained concerning the sands 
along the shore. 

L. H. French. 



ACTUAL ALASKA. 

FROM A GOLD SEEKER'S POINT OF VIEW. 



CHAPTER I. 

DEPARTURE FROM NEW YORK. — SCENES AT SEATTLE. — THE VOYAGE 
TO NOME. — RIOTOUS PASSENGERS. — CONDITIONS AT NOME. 

DURING the winter jnst passed (1899-1900) the marvellous stories 
of the richness of the newly discovered Cape Nome district 
induced me to make preparations for spending the summer there. A 
number of friends and acquaintances in New York and New England 
electing to become interested with me in the venture, a considerable 
plant was ordered in New York and shipped to Seattle. The 
machinery, which proved to be the largest plant of the sort taken to 
work on the beach at Cape Nome, was designed to take up sand from 
the bed of the ocean. The principal features of our plant were : one 
lo-inch centrifugal pump, one steam shovel and dredge, and one high- 
duty placer-mining pump, together with the necessary gold saving 
attachments. Very early in the season we had a plant in course of 
construction that represented a large outlay of money, and required a 
skilled staff of mechanics to operate. 

The work of organizing the expedition was then begun ; the 
chief, and first and second engineers were secured, and the services of 
an assayer contracted for. We fully believed that the sand below low 
water mark would contain a large and highly remunerative amount of 
gold. 

The several members of the party reached Seattle during the last 
days of May to find the town full of men preparing to go to Cape 
Nome. Steamers left almost daily, laden far beyond their capacity 
both as to passengers and freight. For many weeks vessels had been 
departing with the full knowledge that Behring Sea would be full of 
ice floes and that there must be long delays in reaching Nome. But 
so great was the eagerness to be the first on the field, that a great 
number of people left in the early spring on sailing vessels and 
steamers. Tent makers, grocers, hardware dealers, and general out- 
fitters benefitted principally among the merchants of Seattle, though, 
perhaps, hotel keepers and transportation companies should be 
mentioned first. 



26 NOME NUGGETS. 

To those who contemplate going to any part of Alaska I wish to 
state, most emphatically, that there is no better place to purchase an 
outfit, or machinery, or supplies, or clothing, than Seattle. The mer- 
chants of Seattle are not onl}^ exceedingly moderate as to charges, but 
are surprisingl}^ accommodating and prompt. I was the recipient of 
many kindnesses, and I find that my experience is not different from 
that of others. I wish especially to acknowledge the receipt of favors 
from Mr. J. D. Hoge, President of the First National Bank of Seattle 
(which bank now has a branch at Nome City) ; from the officials of 
the Great Northern Railroad, who took excellent care of our ship- 
ments, all along their line ; from Mr. M. M. Perl, manager of the 
Clipper Steamship Line ; and from the MacDougal-Southwick Outfit- 
ting Company. 

Very elaborate statements concerning the new Eldorado had been 
gotten out by the steamship companies. Some of them were fairly 
correct, but many were so glaringly inaccurate that one who has spent 
a sea.son in that country can be only amused at their perusal. 

Although a surgeon myself, I had no time to devote to the care of 
the health of our party, and we therefore took with us Dr. O. W. 
McMichael. During the season we employed nearly two hundred 
men, and it proved to be a most excellent plan to have our own 
surgeon. Many ca.ses of sickness occurring, he had constant recourse 
to our hospital outfit and supplies of medicines. 

I was advised to take drafts, instead of cash. I had, however, a 
premonition that I might have some difficulty in securing cash at Cape 
Nome, and so took greenbacks for a large amount, the various mem- 
l)ers of the expedition carrying them in money belts. This was a 
most fortunate thing for us, as not only should I have failed in secur- 
ing, for some time, any money on drafts at Cape Nome, but I even 
failed to find a place to deposit our money. For some weeks we had 
to continue to carry this decidedly bulky and disagreeable load. 

On June 7th our party sailed from Seattle on the S. S. , the best 

steamer of the Cape Nome fleet. We took with us over two hundred tons 
of machinery, the plant of the Cape Nome Hydraulic Mining Company, 
which we believed to be adapted to the conditions prevailing at Cape 
Nome, together with a large amount of coal, lumber, supplies, tents, 
hardware, etc., etc. The vessel had on board one thousand and nine 
souls, far more than she was licensed to carry. But, while there were 
many complaints, there was really no actual suffering from over- 
crowding, nor was there any lack of anything essential to the comfort 







O fc 

;^; o 

w 
< 



NOME NUGGETS. ■ 29 

of the passengers, although, had we not made so speedy a voyage, our 
condition might have been pitiable owing to the lack of provisions. As 
an evidence of the parsimonious policy of the steamship company 
(which was really one of the best), I have simply to say, that we 
made the trip in ten daj^s, certainly quite as short a time as could have 
been anticipated ; yet on the morning after our arrival, and before the 
passengers landed, it was necessary to send to other vessels of the 
fleet, lying" in the offing, for food for breakfast. While we were 
delayed less than two days in the ice, it would not have been unusual 
at that season of the year to remain in the ice a week or more. Had 
this happened, it is easy to see what suffering to the passengers would 
have been entailed. 

This wholly indefensible conduct on the part of the transportation 
company is one of the least glaring of the many impositions inflicted 
on those who have gone to Cape Nome, as well as on tho.se who have 
gone up the Yukon during the past seasons. There seems to be no 
redress for actual suffering entailed by their carele.s.sne.ss. I know of 
instances where death has resulted, yet Seattle newspapers, and 
others, have declined to publish the facts, and long delays of the law 
have worn out those who sought redress in that manner. 

The personnel of the pas.sengers on board the S. S. was 

about the same as that of the community at Nome. About one-third 
was of the "sporting" class, male and female ; one-third was of the 
idle, always foot-loose cla.ss, who never do well anywhere under any 
circumstances, and who had no definite plan of any sort. The last 
third was divided between men who had experience in mining and 
definite plans for operations and work at Nome, tho.se who were 
going into mercantile business, and professional men. The presence 
of gamblers and ' ' sporting ' ' people in a mining camp is one of the 
best indications of its prosperity, and I am not prepared to .say that 
they do such a community great harm. 

A few days after leaving Seattle, when the passengers commenced 
to get over their .sea-sickness, di.sorder became rife on board the ship. 
There were, beside the officers, but four white quartermasters, and, as 
these were constantly plied with liquor by some of the passengers, 
they were of little .service. The balance of the crew were Chinamen, 
the ves.sel having been previously in the tea trade. In one fight, which 
took place on deck, our Captain had his eyes blacked, and, for a time, 
it looked as though the rough element was going to take po.sse.ssion of 
the ship. With the Captain's consent and approval, a Vigilance Com- 



30 NOME NUGGETS. 

mittee was formed, of which I had the doubtful honor to be chairman, 
and by that committee the ship was patrolled day and night until we 
reached Cape Nome. The Captain's orders were enforced, so far as the 
management of the unruly element on ship-board was concerned, by 
that committee. 

Our voyage to Nome was otherwise plea.sant and uneventful. On 
fine days the decks presented a curious spectacle. Although the 
crowd was too great to permit of promenading, people would form in 
groups for divers recreations. Rival religious meetings were often 
held, crap games, cards, two or three roulette wheels, rough flirtations 
and rougher badinage. 

On the sixth day ice was sighted and we veered off to the west, 
towards the Siberian Coast, to avoid it. Icebergs never come through 
Behring Straits, though immense ice floes filled the horizon to the east 
and north. Great fragments, detached from the edge of the pack, 
looked exceedingly picturesque, covered with penguins — those outland- 
ish, solemn birds familiar to us all from our childhood's picture books. 
Upon one cake of ice, floating past us, crouched a miserable white fox 
going to certain death by .slow starvation. Whales became a common 
sight and gulls followed the .ship in clouds. 

On the afternoon of June 13th, we sighted the Aleutian Islands. 
Our way led us through Unimak Pass, which is the route usually 
followed by ships, unless it is desirable to put into Dutch Harbor for 
coal. In that case Akutan Pass is the gateway, causing a slight 
detour from the direct line. 

Unimak Pass is some two miles in width, and constitutes a noble 
entrance to the waters beyond. Forbidding and tremendous masses 
of rock loom on either side. Absolutely without vegetation or sign of 
life, it is, in truth : 

" A lonel)' land, where no man comes, 

Nor has come since the making of the world." 

The great snow-clad mountain Shilshaldin reared its fiery head 
nine thousand feet above us. Through the glistening blue ether rose 
smoke and steam, from the seething lake it cradles in its summit. 

Once through Unimak Pass we were in Behring Sea. The air 
grew colder. The next morning the Pribyloff group came in view. 
We sighted Otter, St. Paul's and St. George's Islands. Thousands of 
seal were plainly seen ; one, very beautiful, swam beside us half the 
day. Air and sea were alive with w41d fowl. 



NOME NUGGETS. 33 

All that night we lay in a thick fog. On the morning of the 
fifteenth a peculiar condition existed. The sun shone brightly about 
our ship, while beyond, the fog seemed impenetrable. As the day 
advanced it lifted, and we went on at full speed. 

During the last days of our voyage taking photographs at mid- 
night was a favorite amusement. Capital results were obtained from 
a short exposure, even showing vessels some distance from the ship. 

A dreary waste of moss-covered frozen ground, dotted here and 
there with tiny lakes and intersected with creeks and rivers — rows of 
black hills stretching away into towering cloud-capped mountains, is 
the landscape to first greet the eye on approaching land anj'where 
along the Behring coast. 

We arrived off Cape Nome June 17th, finding about thirty vessels 
there before us. Although the earliest arrivals had preceded us by 
not more than a week or ten days, some of them had been at sea for 
nearly two months. The following day most of the passengers landed 



CHAPTER II. 

THE BEACH AT CAPE NOME. 

WHEN I landed at Nome City I found over fifteen thousand peo- 
ple. These, I supposed, comprised most of the people who 
had come to that section, yet I later found that from five to ten thou- 
sand more were scattered along the beach for twenty-five miles. 

The scene on the beach was absolutely chaotic. Thousands of 
tons of freight of every conceivable description were piled high, from the 
water's edge far up the beach, and for two miles along the water front. 
Everything was in an appalling state of confusion. Machinery, all 
sorts of supplies, hay, grain, lumber, hardware, jn'ovisions, liquor, 
tents, stoves, pianos, sewing machines, mirrors, l^ar fixtures, — e\-ery- 
thing that one may imagine, was there. The delivery of goods to 
their rightful owners was next to impossible. In many instances, 
steamship companies claimed that their responsilMlity for goods ceased 
when the goods went over the ship's side. As this performance took 
place about a mile out to sea, a very risky and expensive trip on 
lighters had still to be made before the landing, through the surf, was 
accomplished. It will thus be seen that this was hardly a pleasant 
prospect for shippers of freight. 

Goods once on the beach were still far from their destination, even 
though the actual distance to be covered was not great. Transporta- 
tion along the beach was either by wagon, at $io an hour — and 
a wagon could only haul a few hundred pounds and move at a snail's 
pace — or goods could be moved on lighters, which were towed by 
steam or gasoline launches. The charges made by these launches for 
such towing were frequently as high as $500 a day. Prices fell later 
in the season. Hauling an^-thing on the tundra was next to impossi- 
ble. Dog teams abounded. Six to twelve dogs, harnessed tandem 
fashion, could pull a small wagon carrying not to exceed two hundred 
pounds. ' 

The main street was the only passable street, and this was a surg- 
ing mass of humanity. Men rushed furiousl}' about, apparently with- 
out any particular object. At that date there were one or two frame 



NOME NUGGETS. 



37 



lodging houses ready for business, but no hotels. A bunk cost $2 or 
$3 per night, according to the character of the place. Very few who 
had landed had gotten possession of their tents. Thousands slept out- 
doors on boxes or bales, or walked about all night. It was a difficult 
matter to tell when it was night and when it was day, as there was 
absolutely no difference in the amount of light. Restaurants were 
principally in tents ; the cost of a modest meal was from %2 to $3; three 
boiled eggs could be had for $1 ; ham and eggs for $1.50 ; bread and 
butter and coffee, 50 cents. The weather at that date was ideal, so 
that little hardship was entailed by sleeping outdoors. 




Some of the Cape Nome Hydraulic Mining Co.'s Machinery. 

Sanitary arrangements were absoluteh' nil. The irregular city 
government did improve matters somewhat by ordering, on penalty of 
a fine, that all persons, male and female, use public latrines erected for 
the purpose. Tickets to these places were sold at 10 cents each, or 
three for 25 cents. 

Realizing that to land our freight on the beach, under the condi- 
tions prevailing, would entail a delay of weeks in getting out to our 
beach claims, six miles away, as well as the loss of thousands of dollars 
for moving, I arranged with the captain of our steamer to move the 
vessel up to a point opposite our claims, and land our property there. 

This I was enabled to do, a little later, without anj^ cost, in view 
of what he was pleased to call my services to his company. Bad 
weather and difficulty in landing necessitated our remaining opposite 
our claims for more than a week. It was not until the first days of 



38 NOME NUGGETS. 

July that we found ourselves landed on our claims and in possession of 
all our freight. 

During all of July the beach was a scene of the utmost activity ; 
plants of every conceivable description were in process of erection or 
in operation. The rule as to each man taking a twentj^-five foot strip, 
which I had believed to prevail, was wholly disregarded ; a man used 
whatever ground his plant occupied. Towards the last of July an at- 
tempt was made to hold full-sized claims on the beach, and in some 
instances soldiers were sent to remove intruders. This action would 
probably have been strongly contested, and I do not believe that it 
would have proven legal, for the beach had been frequently character- 
ized as the "poor man's diggings". But most of the people by this 
time had come to the conclusion that the beach was not worth fighting 
for, and there was, therefore, no concerted opposition to the attempt 
to clear a few claims of tre.spassers. It is" estimated that seven or 
eight thousand men worked the beach with rockers, and that as many 
more either owned or were employed by, large or small plants. Many 
of the rockers were painted with bright colors, and, as one rowed up 
and down near the shore, they resembled nothing so much as the but- 
ter and cheese machines at a country fair. 

The most popular machines were small centrifugal pumps, oper- 
ated by gasoline engines, throwing enough water to furnish one sluice 
head. Of these there were endless numbers whose explosive puffs 
could be heard above the roar of the surf, night and day. Many were 
the devices calculated to work beneath the sea. Of the.se our plant 
was the largest, though we had numerous smaller plants. 

The camp of the Cape Nome H3^draulic Mining Company was, I 
believe, the model camp on the beach. Our tents were of the best 
quality, all large, and were put up, not on poles, but on frames erected 
for the .purpose. The sides were boarded up and flooring put in. 
vStoves were in all the tents, and one extra large tent was entirely de- 
voted to the drying of men's clothing. 

I believe that much of the sickness on the beach was due to the 
fact that not all tents had floors, and thus men were unable to keep 
themselves warm and dry. We had everything to eat which can be 
put up in cans ; and most of the time we had dessicated potatoes, 
onions and other vegetables. Large amounts of beef and mutton were 
sent up in cold storage, and not a little beef on the hoof. The 
"Skookum", whose dimensions were really colossal, brought up a 
great many cattle. 




i4 C 
o ^ 

^ < 

Q 
Z 
< 

w 
S 
H 



NOME NUGGETS. 



41 



Although it became warm toward noon in July, we had no diffi- 
culty in keeping all perishable articles of diet in an excellent state of 






UK •-' '■« « 




Cape Mome Hydraulic Mining Co.'s Beach Machine at Work. 

preservation. By digging down a few feet one could always strike ice, 
on which butter and such things could be put, the whole covered over 
with boards and a piece of canvas. Such made ideal ice chests. 




Rear View of Cape Xome Hydraulic Mining Go's Beach Machine, Showing 

Sluice Boxes, Piles of Coal, and Track on which Machine 

ran out into the water. 

We had made elaborate preparations to fight mosquitoes, and had 
bolts of mosquito netting, and various sorts of mosquito-proof head- 



42 



NOME NUGGETS. 



gear. But we had no use for any of this while we were on the beach, 
though it would have been useful had we gone to the creeks during 
the warmest weather. I never saw any mosquitoes on the beach. 

In August the scene' changed. The beach was dismal beyond des- 
cription. The rains had set ; much of the machinery was abandoned, 
covered with rust and sinking in the sand ; the exhilaration of hope, 
which had fired the miners a month earlier, when they were getting 
ready their plants with money they had brought up with them, had 
vanished. Most of those who still worked on were trying to get a 
stake on which to leave the country. 

We were ready for operations on the 17th of July. For nearly a 
month we literally swept the bottom of the ocean in front of our claims. 
The machinery was admirably designed, doing all and more than had 
been claimed for it. We handled thousands of tons of sand, in all of 
which there were particles of gold, but never in pa\-ing quantities. 




(ihiiiM, A >.MAi,i. Pumping Plant over the Tundr.\ to a Fresh Waii-.k J<ake, 
TO Pump Water for our L,ar(;e Engines. 

A majority of the plants had given up long before we reluctantly 
acknowledged that our enterprise, .so far as concerned that field of 
operation, was a failure. The fact was that the richest of the deposits 
of gold on the beach had Ijeen taken out during the preceding season, 
and that gold, in paying quantities, never existed below the water line. 
I am inclined to believe that those who had taken it out fully expected 
that infinitely richer deposits might still be found, but it was not so. 
Nine-tenths of the men who worked plants on the beach made dismal 



NOME NUGGETS. 43 

failures, some of the remainder made expenses, and a few happened to 
find rich spots and made some money. Men with rockers made fair 
wages, $5 to $25 a day, early in the season, and a bare living later. 
The man with the rocker was able to move about looking for good 
spots, was under little expense, and many of those, who were indus- 
trious, did well. 

While it is not to be denied that gold exists along the whole vast 
coast, from Cape Nome to Cape York, it is a positive fact that it does 
not exist in sufficient quantities to yield large. returns for extensive 
operations, and up to vSeptember ist, the Cape Nome Hydraulic Mining 
Compan}- was as dismal a failure as it is easy to imagine. 

Forced to acknowledge our defeat, we housed our plant and turned 
our attention to the creeks. At this time there was every temptation 
to sell our machinery for what it would l)ring, and return to civil- 
ization. 



CHAPTER III. 

NOME CITY. 

AS late as July, 1899, Nome Cit}- was nothing but a city of tents. 
By the first of August over fifty buildings had been erected and 
many more were in process of construction. L,uniber was very scarce 
and sold for $160 a thousand feet. Carpenters were in great 
demand and commanded high wages. In a very short space of time 
Front street w-as lined with shops, saloons, dance halls, gambling 
houses and restaurants of all sizes and shapes, open for business day 
and night. Late in August the United States Militar\- barracks were 
completed. 

When I arrived at Cape Nome, in June, 1900, most of the people 
were living in tents. There were hundreds of more or less flimsily 
constructed wooden buildings. When I left in October, the winter 
had set in, and few people were still living in tents. The buildings of 
Nome were, msLuy of them, highly creditable and were sufficient in 
number to accommodate the ten thousand people who would remain 
there all winter. Several well built hotels existed, and a large theatre 
in which a typical western variet}- show could be seen, as w^ell as 
weekly prize fights. 

Early in the season the main street, called Front street, was deep 
in dust, because it really was part of the beach. All streets further 
away from the water's edge were impassable on account of the mud. 
After rain set in, in August, even the main street became a "slough 
of despond". The only thoroughfare having the slightest pretension 
to paving was Steadman avenue, otherwise known as " Hogan's 
Alley", which was planked over, and on which the Cape Nome Hydrau- 
lic Mining Company has its ofiices. Prices of commodities were exceed- 
ingly high during the winter of 1899 and 1900 at Nome Citj^ but fell 
materially when vessels came in, after the breaking up of the ice. The 
great quantities of provisions shipped in at that time caused a distinctly 
bearish movement in prices. This was only temporary , however. The 
prices I quote were those which prevailed towards the latter part of 
August, when man}- vessels were still due to arrive before winter set in, 
and which can therefore be taken as average prices. 



XOME NUGGETS. 47 

With the opening of navigation thousands of tons of goods were 
landed on the beach and thrown on the market. The water front for 
miles was a scene of barter, and goods were sold for what the}' would 
bring. The result was a thorough demoralization of prices, Seattle 
market rates being quoted iii many instances. The legitimate dealer 
was brought in close competition with the l^each dealer, who was at 
little or no expense. Outfits could be bought very cheaply. Eggs 
which earlier in the season sold as low as $7 a case, sold late in August 
for $15, and were not plentiful at that. Potatoes sold at 7 cents a 
pound, or $g a crate. Bacon was scarce, l)Ut sold at 30 cents a pound. 
Hams were plentiful and sold at the same price. Sugar retailed at 15 
cents a pound, while flour could be had for about S9 a barrel, or S2.50 




A Contraption that w.as Dhskined to run Out into the Watf:r on Karrel-likf. 
Wheels. It Proved So Heavy that It was Never Moved. 

a sack. Coal oil, which the winter before commanded $10 a case, 
could then be had at $5 a case.. The best brands of condensed milk 
were quoted at $11 a case. The market was well supplied with butter 
at 75 cents a pound. Fresh fruits of all kinds were plentiful. Lemons 
and oranges were quoted at %6 a case, while apples were to be had at 
$4 per box, the quality not being super-excellent, by any means. 
Lumber sold for fabulous prices early in the season, but late in August 
brought $60 per thousand feet. Coal of a good quality then .sold for 
$30 a ton, but after the great September storm, none .sold for less than 
^60 a ton. 

Numerous storms visited the coast near Cape Nome during the 



48 NOME NUGGETS. 

season. Behring Sea is a shallow body of water, easily lashed into 
fury, and capable of doing great damage to ships and buildings near 
the water's edge. Whenever storms arose, ships all put to sea 
immediately, and it was not an uncommon thing to see forty or fifty 
vessels lying in the offing, and an hour later not one in sight. Not- 
withstanding warnings from old timers, many newcomers built near 
the water's edge and these suffered loss from storms. The great storm 
of September 12th destroyed more than $1,000,000 worth of property 
and rendered hundreds of people homeless. All the buildings on the 
south side of Front street, in the western portion of Nome City, were 
swept away and destro^-ed. By order of the military authorities that 
side of the street was not rebuilt. 




The Beach Camp of thb Cape Nome Hydraulic Mining Co. The Kitchen 

AND Storage Tents were on the Edge of the Tundra. 

All other Tents weke on the Beach. 

Nome Cit}^ was remarkably free from the disorder and lawlessness 
usually associated with a mining camp. There were a few murders, 
some robberies, but, on the whole, hardly more crime than would 
have existed in any town of similar size in the United States. 

The most fatal diseases were typhoid fever and pneumonia, but 
there were not a great many cases of these. In this connection it may 
not be in apropos to mention the mo.st remarkable instance of theft of 
which I have ever heard. The Nome City cemetery was on the edge 
of the tundra, just west of the city limits. As the tundra is solid ice 
to a not yet discovered depth (I have put a prospect drill sixty feet 
down, all the way in ice and frozen ground), graves had to be literally 



NOME NUGGETS. 49 

hewn out, with much labor. Two men, after preparing and digging a 
grave, had gone to town for the body. Upon their return, the}^ dis- 
covered that another corpse not only occupied their grave, but that it 
had been filled in and a head-board erected. Not being willing, 
naturally, to evict even a trespassing corpse, although their own 
" claim " had been clearly " jumped", they dug another grave. 

Small-pox existed in July, although few of the cases were fatal. 
The number of persons affected was greatly exaggerated in stories sent 
to outside papers. 

The term "outside", by the way, is something of a misnomer. 
It is an importation from the Klondike, where the use of the word, in the 
same connection as it is used at Nome, is eminently proper. That is 
an interior country, but the residents of Nome City can scarcely be 
called such, since they live on the sea coast. However, the name 
seems to fit, hence it is used. In referring to the outside world, the 
people of Juneau, Skagway, and Southwestern Alaska, generally use 
the word ' ' below ' ' . Thus the papers in chronicling the arrival and 
departure of steamers say, for example, that "such and such a vessel 
arrived from below". Of the two words, so far as the Behring Sea 
coast is concerned, " outside " seems to be the most acceptable. 

Nome had a number of sick and destitute people, who w^ere 
deported by the military authorities. But even among this number 
there were many too lazy to work, and not worthy of receiving aid. 
There was plenty of work for those who chose to take it. Any indus- 
trious man with a rocker, which he could build himself, could always 
go to the beach, and, in a week or two at most, rock out enough to 
pay his fare to the outside. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE CREEKS. 

WITH a singleness of purpose, which now seems scarcely commend- 
able, I had devoted my time to the beach alone, confidently 
expecting that we were going to make a fortune there. While I was 
aware that work was being done on the creeks, I paid little attention 
to it. It would have been infinitely better for us had I gone to the 
creeks in the first place ; but the principal reports on Cape Nome had 
been about its beach. Now that I had tested this, I turned to the 
country lying among the hills. 

Here were innumerable creeks and gulches, and ancient water- 
way's. I found that as great a number of men as had been on the 
beach were working on creek claims. A very large majority of them 
were making money. 

Acting in the interest of our directors and stockholders, I acquired 
claim after claim, .sent out numerous pro.specting parties and made 
every effort to snatch victory from defeat before the waters of the 
creeks and lakes .should be locked in icy fetters for the long dark 
winter. We opened a numVier of camps, and while in many instances 
work was done to no purpose, we were finally gratified with the know- 
ledge that we had "struck it rich", in at least five different places. 

The work on the creeks was being carried on without machinery ; 
in most instances with sluice boxes, where water was plent>\ and with 
rockers, where water was scarce. Suffice it to say, that, although the 
season was far advanced, we struck rich "pay-dirt" on a sufficient 
number of claims to do much toward retrieving the lo.sses of the earlier 
part of the season and to give us po.sitive assurance for next season. 

When on the first of October, water froze in the sluice boxes, we 
were taking out such handsome daily profits that it was with great re- 
gret we were compelled to abandon our claims to the watchmen, who 
went into winter quarters. 

When I first landed at Cape Nome a former acquaintance had ask- 
ed me to ptirchase a claim on Nakila Gulch for $300. I went to see 
it and thought it so unpromising that I had no hesitation in refus- 
ing it at any price. Early in August that same claim was sold 



NOME NUGGETS- 



53 



for $150,000, after the owner had taken $75,000 out of the ground. 

Innumerable instances of the same sort occurred in almost every 
district in that section of Alaska. 

How much money was taken out will never be known. Although 
many millions passed through banking houses, express companies, 
transportation companies, and the assay office at Seattle, I firmly be- 
lieve that an equall}' large amount was brought out by individuals, 
who chose to take the risk of carrying it themselves, rather than pay 
the high charges otherwise necessary. 

The resources of the numerous mining districts of the Sumner 
Peninsula, the Eldorado, Discovery, Norton Bay, Blake, Big Four, 
Cripple, Sinrock, Fairvdew, Granite, Bonanza, Cape York, Koyukuk, 




Anvil Rock, from which the Famous Creek and Mountain are Named. 

Bluestone, and others, are just commencing to be known. Prospect- 
ing was done on a large scale in all of them during the past season, 
and in many of them large amounts of gold dust were taken out. For 
the most part the work done was only such as to demonstrate the ex- 
istence of gold, and to prepare for the following season's work. 
' ' Bluestone ' ' seems to be the richest, and the already famous ' ' Gold 
Run" bids fair to be infinitely richer than Anvil Creek, which has 
been, up to now, the greatest producing creek in this section. 

Nome nuggets are found with a frequency that renders them 
sufficiently important to be selected as the title of this compilation. 

There is probably not one single gold nugget, larger than of a 
dollar's value, in all the beach sands from Cape Nome to Cape York, 



54 



NOME NUGGETS. 



but nuggets are found ever^'where that creek and bench claim placer 
mining is carried on. The collection of nuggets illustrated in this work 




Showing Dam Drain and a Few I,engths of Canvas Hose on Claim 
No. 5, ABOVE, ON Anvil Creek. 

came from one of the Cape Nome Hydraulic Mining Company's claims, 
known as Number 5, above Discovery, on An\'il Creek, and most of 
them were found in the sluice boxes at regular " clean-ups "'. 





Sluicing on Claim No. 5, Above, on Anvil Creek. 

Our mode of mining on Number 5, Anvil, was to divert the waters 
of the creek by the erection of a dam. Huge canvas hose led the water 



NOME NUGGETS. 55 

where we required it for sluicing purposes or carried it away in such a 
manner as to leave the bottom of the creek dry. 

It has often been asked how we could protect ourselves from los- 
ing valuable nuggets. Every day the auriferous material is thrown 
into the sluice boxes with long-handled shovels, and the gold, of course, 
falls into the rifQes and strips and is caught in these devices along the 
sluice boxes. No one but the superintendent and mining engineer ever 
thinks of looking into these sluices ; a miner who should be seen ex- 
amining the sluice boxes would be immediately discharged from any 
claim. Number 5, Anvil Creek, produced the largest nugget found in 
that section this season, which has been ver}' extensively admired, not 
only on account of its value, but on account of its beauty. It is con- 
sidered a magnificent specimen, and weighs a pound and a half. From 
our claims on other creeks we got an entireh* different class of gold and 
nuggets. While all the gold is of about the same value, the chief dif- 
ference lies in color and form. Some of the dust and nuggets are 
nearly black ; other specimens are bright as though burnished. Some 
of the coarser dust and smaller nuggets are of rough and irregular 
shape ; others are smooth and scale-like ; and a few contain some 
quartz. 

There are so many different varieties of gold on the peninsula as to 
lead an inexperienced observer to suppose that they must have been 
mined in localities separated by considerable distances ; but the old pen- 
insula miner soon becomes sufficiently expert to locate them and tell 
the exact district from which specimens come. 

During the two months which had elapsed probably thirt}' thou- 
sand people landed at Cape Nome. Nearly one-half of that number 
soon returned to the places whence they came, disheartened, discour- 
aged, and with little but denunciation of Nome and that section on 
their lips. Many of those still remaining were deeply disappointed 
because their high expectations had not been realized. I was chari- 
tably disposed toward those who were despondent, and I don't even 
feel like censuring those who have returned home with evil tales on 
their lips and hatred of all things Alaskan in their hearts. All this 
was to be expected. A country condemned without just cause can 
stand considerable adverse criticism. Many people blamed conditions, 
not themselves, because they failed to achieve the success they antici- 
pated. 

There is a lesson in the great rush to Cape Nome of last spring; 
the lesson here is the hard, practical one of every day life, teaching 



56 NOME NUGGETS. 

men that, except in rare instances, the accumulation of wealth is not 
the work of a few months, but years. It is the task of a life time, 
often several life times, and to that it need hardly be added, the great 
majority of people never attain. 

That the tales of the great riches of Nome, which were told last 
autumn and winter, were beautifully exaggerated, was not the fault of 
the country. That these tales brought disappointment, sorrow and 
loss of mone}', cannot consistently be charged to its debit account. 
Too much was expected of a country in its chrysalis state. 

Developments of the past summer have demonstrated that the 
faith of those who know its possibilities was not misapplied. Yet 
the development of this section has scarcely begun. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE NATIVES OF THE FAR NORTH. 

THE natives of the Seward Peninsula, numbering about eight hun- 
dred, are Eskimo, or as they call themselves, Innuits. They 
are, in general, scattered along the coast, with several more or less 
centralized settlements about the missions and reindeer stations, at Port 
Clarence, Cape Prince of Wales, Golovin Bay and the Cape Nome 
region. They usualh' live in small villages of eight or ten families, 
crowded in crude, underground huts or dugouts, supporting themselves 
by hunting and fishing. They are a good-natured people and generally 
industrious. The youths are reported to be apt in the mission schools. 

Prior to the recent discoveries of gold, the only whites on the 
Seward Peninsula with whom they came in contact were the few 
Americans in charge of the several missions and reindeer stations, and 
a score or so of Swedes and Eaps employed as herders. 

Since the advent of the gold-hunter with his attendant dissipa- 
tions, the mortality among the tribes on the coast of the vast gold- 
bearing peninsula of Alaska, between Norton Sound and Kotzebue 
Sound, has increased to such a rapid and alarming extent that the 
native population is in danger of becoming extinct. The diseases 
which are carrying them off are consumption and pneumonia ; before 
these their constitution seems to be helpless. Wherever possible, the 
whites have been helping them ; but when once attacked, it has 
become apparent that only the hand of Providence can snatch the 
sufferer from the grave. Whole families, and even tribes, have died 
off ; and there is more than one case where children have been left 
without parents or a single relative to look after them. 

Great stoicism is shown, as a rule, by the native sufferer, while 
in many instances the deaths are pathetic in the extreme. So strongly 
superstitious are they that they will not remain in the neighborhood of 
a corpse if they possess enough strength to drag themselves away. On 
this account the United States Government has met with much diffi- 
culty in caring for the sick. If too weak to crawl, a native lies in 
a state of absolute terror when he knows a dead body is in the camp. 



6o NOME NUGGETS. 

Out of an Eskimo population of several hundreds on St. Lawrence 
Island, thirtj'-six are reported to have died within the last few weeks. 
The villages all over this section of Alaska have been decimated. 
Scores of deaths have occurred at St. Michael, Golovin Bay, Nome 
River, Port Clarence, Grantley Harbor, Cape Prince of Wales, Sinrock 
and on the shores of Kotzebue Sound. The story told by Guy N. 
Stockslager, who has been superintending the relief expedition sent by 
the Government authorities to various points along the coast, defies 
duplication. He went as far to the northwest as Cape York, and all 
along the coast, wherever there is an Eskimo village, the conditions 
above described exist. 

A murder, inspired by superstition, occurred at Teller City, where, 
in the hope that his act would appease the evil .spirit which was bring- 
ing such affliction on his people, a native chief brained, with a bone 
hatchet, the medicine man of the tribe, whom he supposed was respon- 
sible for the prevailing epidemic. A few weeks later consumption sent 
the chief to the happy hunting grounds. Thirteen deaths have already 
taken place at Teller City, and nearly every native in the place is ill. 
Provisions for distribution were left there with Rev. T. L. Brevig, a 
missionary. 

Four miles west of Behring City nine dead bodies were found in 
huts. 

Out of a population of twelve natives at Port Clarence, two only 
are left alive. 

The revenue cutter ' ' Bear' ' is taking supplies of provisions and 
medicines along the coast and leaving them where needed. 

It seems that death and deterioration follow wherever native 
Alaskans come in contact with the white race. This is evident not 
only in the country around Nome, but in Southeastern Alaska and 
almost every section of that coast. The causes lie not so much in 
whiskey, dissipation and blood disease, as in changes in their manner 
of living. The Innuit puts off his native raiment, discards the food 
to which his constitution and the constitution of his forefathers have 
been accustomed for generations, and substitutes for his fur and his 
seal oil and dried salmon the manufactured clothing and food of civil- 
ization. There is not much room for wonder that colds, consumption 
and pneumonia follow. 

The United States Government, acting through General Randall, 
has established a reservation at the mouth of Nome River, about four 
miles from the city of Nome, where as many sick natives as can be 



NOME NUGGETS. 



6i 



found, are being ' ' herded' ' and provided for. The deadhouse there has 
had to be abandoned on account of the superstition among the Eskimos. 
As long as it existed, when the news that a death had occurred got 
abroad, great commotion and excitement prevailed. There have been 
a number of instances when patients have fled down the beach, run- 
ning till they dropped dead or exhausted, to escape from the, to them, 
dreadful vicinity. A corpse preserved any length of time they believe 
brings famine, disease and death. 




N.^TivE Reception Day on Revenue Cuttek " Bear " (When the 

"Bear" Drops Anchor off an Eskimo Village the Whole 

Population Flock Aboard.) 

The natives, with their dark skins, dark eyes, high cheek bones, 
straight hair and small stature, seem to be of Mongolian origin. Ex- 
pert carvers in bone and ivor}-, the sale of such curios was last summer 
a source of considerable revenue, though they take little thought for 
the morrow. With skin boats, dog teams and reindeer, they make long 
journeys. 

Probably the most novel and exciting trip in the world is a 
voyage along the shores of Behring Sea in a native Alaskan boat 
drawn by a dog team. The idea of towing a boat will be sure to re- 



62 NOME NUGGETS. 

mind the Eastern reader of a trip through one of our large canals, with 
the patient, plodding mules dragging the huge boat at a snail's pace 
along a placid waterway, the banks of which are lined with rich 
meadows and green pastures, dotted here and there with cozy, pictur- 
esque farm houses, and the journey punctuated with an occasional 
village, where the conditions are somnolent, and the bark of the dog or 
the braying of a long-eared semi-equine hybrid is real excitement. 

The Alaskan voyage uppermost in ni}- memory stands out so strongly 
in contrast with the foregoing, that the picture is as vivid as though 
more recentl}- drawn. To begin with, the vessel, in which the trip 
was taken, is of a distinctly unique type and construction, called a 
oumiak. The framework is made of beautifully finished and finely- 
fitted bits of driftwood, fastened together with leather thongs so se- 
curely as to be perfectly safe, and yet pliable to an astonishing degree. 
Over this basket-like structure a covering of porpoise hide is stretched 
and so carefully sewn, as to be absolutely water tight. The boat is, 
in shape, not unlike the ordinary whale boat, usually about twenty 
feet long, with graceful lines, and capable, under favorable conditions, 
of transporting a very heavy cargo. 

The natives frequently load to the water's edge, using the dog 
teams to tow them along the surf line until they reach the mouth of 
a river or bay, when a halt is made long enough to take the dogs and 
drivers on board. Paddles are then resorted to until a landing is 
again made. 

With two companions I embarked in one of these frail craft for a 
journey of twenty miles down the coast. A team of five "husky" dogs 
was attached to a fifty foot tow line of porpoise hide. A native 
steersman formed our working crew, while the offices of chief engineer 
and assistant were filled by a native driver, who remained on the 
beach. When everything was in readiness and we were sitting in 
the places assigned us, the Eskimo seized the little boat, which was 
rising and falling and sometimes dancing on the waves, as though im- 
patient to be off, and ran it into a line of breakers where the water was 
about three feet deep. While we were embarking the dogs sat idly 
by, watching us from the beach ; but the minute the oumiak reached 
water deep enough to float her nicely, and swung around parallel with 
the shore, an exciting change occurred. All was animation. The 
dogs sprang into their harness and started off down the beach at a 
rattling pace, encouraged by the driver, who ran behind them, crack- 
ing his whip and shouting at every leap. The Innuit in the bow of the 



NOME NUGGETS. 63 

boat kept a tow line perfectly stead^^ gradually raising it with his in- 
strument sufficiently to insure its clearing a piece of drift wood or a 
partly submerged rock, while the man in the stern, by a series of care- 
ful, dexterous and skilful strokes, managed to keep the boat just out- 
side of the edge or wash of breakers, and we were off. Surely our 
voyage resembled the flight of the sea-gull more than a boat trip along 
the shore. One moment our little craft would be lifted on the crest of 
a wave, with what seemed to be a certainty of being dashed to pieces 
on the sands or rocks ; at times we flew along, for an instant, high 
above the heads of the dogs, with the tow line clear of the water all 
the way between the team and boat ; the next moment we were down 
in the trough of the sea, with nothing visible but the cold grey waves 
and the leather line, connecting us with the shore, cutting swiftly 
through the angry waters. Nothing was audible but the ceaseless roar 
the surf, with occasional shouts, or rather explosions of bad English of 
and unprintable Siwash from our driver. The ride, itself, was most 
exhilarating ; but the principal fun consisted in watching the dogs be- 
come tangled in the rockers along the beach, and in clearing the tow line 
over the various obstructions. Miners' hats were swept off and not a 
few had their feet knocked from under them. Everyone, how^ever, 
laughed and cheered as he dashed along, calling to them not to 
' ' obstruct navigation' ' . 

We finally arrived safely at our camp ; our mode of travel was 
exhilarating in the highest degree, and we all voted it the most agree- 
able to be encountered anywhere in the vicinity of the Arctic circle. 

The native idea of a circulating medium is so haz}' as to defy 
description. Intercourse with the white traders, from the earliest ex- 
ploration down to the present time, has merely taught them that the 
skins of the animals they trap for food can be exchanged for certain 
commodities which white men have been in the habit of bringing into 
their country ; and, as the trader has always been in the habit of 
naming the value of the article, it will be seen that their knowledge 
of the purchase, compared to that of the i\merican, is very limited. 
To illustrate : the price of a good dog on the peninsula during the 
past year has been from $100 to $150. A miner meeting a native, a 
little distance into the interior, was attracted by the appearance of one 
of his dogs and desired to purchase the animal. On asking the price 
the native replied, "I will take $100 for the dog, or a bottle of 
whiske3\" 

Tea, coffee, sugar, cloth, knives and hatchets are the things they 



64 NOME NUGGETS. 

most desire to barter their furs for. They use httle tobacco, the habit 
having never taken the same hold upon them that it almost invari- 
ably has on natives who come in contact with the whites. Despite 
that fact and the many attempts made to care for them, the Alaskan 
is disappearing from the face of the earth more rapidly than any other 
distinct people. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE GREAT STORM OF SEPTEMBER I2TH. 

NOME'S waterfront emerged on the morning of September 13th 
from the most terrific storm which has ever beset it in the knowl- 
edge of her white inhabitants. The spectacle unfolded by the return of 
da^dight, was grand and 3'et appalling. Though the fury of the wand 
had somewhat abated and the tremendous tide had partly receded, the 
angr}^ sea still raged. An untold quantity of debris — lumber, piles, 
wreckage of ships, barrels of liquor, tents, sails, masts, building paper 
— covered the surface of the near waters and tumbled about in wild 
confusion in the clutch of the surf. 

Only through a personal inspection could one attain a conception 
of the wonderful spectacle. The people in thousands braved the 
elements, throughout the night and day, to view a scene which will 
leave an everlasting impression on their memories. Worst of all was 
the loss of life which attended the storm. The nvimber of deaths will 
never be known, but that they must have been numerous is undoubt- 
ed. Hundreds of the inhabitants of Nome were bereft of their small 
belongings and rendered homeless b}' the washing away of their tents 
and houses ; and this extended far up the Snake River and Dry Creek 
bottoms, as well as for miles along the beach. 

On the afternoon of the 12th, at 3.30 o'clock, a southeaster was 
piping a gale. The mammoth barge ' ' Skookum ' ' , staunchest of all 
the storm-tossed fleet, after battling the season's elements, dragged 
her anchor and started on the journey towards the beach and destruc- 
tion. After the ' ' Skookum' ' had struggled an hour or so, the little tug 
" America ", and a steam launch, which were tied astern of the doom- 
ed barge, began to show signs of succumbing to the heav>' sea. They 
popped and bobbed about it on the crest of the swell until the}' both 
were caught broadside in the waves, and went down, with those on 
board. 

Fully a thousand excited people crowded down the beach, as close 
as it was safe to do so, to w^atch the " Skookum " grind her vitals on 
the sand. In the long drag from her mooring she did not swerve to 



68 NOME NUGGETS. 

the right or left more than a hundred feet. She drifted broadside to- 
wards the shore and landed upon the beach just below the lower ex- 
tremity of the military reservation. The waves broke clear over the 
ill-fated barge and carried aw^ay everything that was not securely lash- 
ed down. For fully an hour the great strength of her hull and keel 
stood the merciless pounding before breaking. Shortly before mid- 
night, however, when the storm and surf were at their height, the 
' ' Skookum ' ' with a mighty crash broke in two. 

The thirteen men who were aboard did not succeed in getting 
ashore until 3 P. M. Several of them made frantic efforts to leave 
the barge, but the cooler heads restrained them. The}' succeeded in 
getting aboard a lighter that was wedged between the "Skookum" and 
the shore, and from the lighter they were dragged, one by one, by a 
coil of rope through surf and wreckage. Several men were severely 
scratched and bruised, but none seriousty injured. 

With the sudden rising of the tide, the monster breakers came 
surging in from sea, carrying ruin and destruction before them. Build- 
ings along the south side of River street were picked up bodily, for a 
distance of two blocks, and dashed against those of the opposite side. 
Many of these were immediately wrecked and the pieces carried away 
by the waves ; others, more substantial in construction, held out for 
varying periods ; nearly all were, in the end, reduced to kindling wood. 
Those buildings beyond the reach of the waves were flooded wath 
water. Only in a few instances were goods saved, so unexpected and 
sudden was the onslaught of the waves. Self-preservation became the 
first great care, the saving of property was subordinate to the saving 
of lives. 

The "beachcombers" were out in full force, tempted by the 
valuable articles to be snatched from the weaves. Thousands of feet of 
lumber of all kinds wxre thus secured, while many drew up sashes and 
doors, tents, boats, coal, whi.skey, beer and even champagne. The 
soldiers w^ere early put on guard and some property' was saved to the 
owners. Many collisions between the military and ' ' beach combers ' ' 
took place, and a number of arrests were made. Considerable drunk- 
enness also followed the recovery of the barrels of liquor. Hundreds of 
hustling fellows devoted themselves to laying up fire wood. Various 
estimates were heard of the number of persons rendered homeless by the 
waters, the general opinion being that one thousand was a reasonable 
figure. That man}^ of these unfortunate ones suffered severely is un- 
doubted. 



NOME NUGGETS. 71 

A serious loss to the camp was the ten thousand tons of coal drawn 
into the sea. Owing to the lateness of the season this could not be re- 
placed, and the supply of fuel for the winter was accordingly short. 
The price of the article being materially increased thereby, another 
hardship was thus entailed on the people as a result of the storm. 




E. H. Brown, 
Assistant General Manager, Cape Nome Hydraulic Mining Company. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE BLUESTONE DISTRICT. 
[By E. H. Brown, Assistant General Manager of the Cape Nome Hydraulic Mining Company.] 

THE Bluestone Mining District is that part of the old Port 
Clarence District to the east of Port Clarence and south of 
Grantly Harbor. It is about eighty miles, as the crow flies, to the 
north and west of Nome, and about one hundred and fifty miles from 
Nome by water. The trip overland is a very difficult one, the country 
being rough and desolate, so that to accomplish it in a three days' 
journey is fast travelling. 

As Nome is the headquarters for all that peninsula of Alaska 
formed by Norton Sound on the south and Kotzebue Sound on the 
north, when the big "strike" in the Bluestone was announced the 
steamship companies immediately advertised transportation there from 
Nome. The fare, first-class only, was $15 on all the little steam 
schooners, as the ' ' Albion " , " Aloha ' ' , and ' ' Discovery ' ' , and $10 on 
the sailing ships. Starting from Nome at night, the steamers arrived 
at Grantl}' and Behring City the next noon. Every boat was crowded 
with people anxious to be the first in the big rush. 

The entrance to Port Clarence is especiall}- picturesque. On the 
right is the long, low sand spit, in the lee of which is the Whaler's 
Anchorage, while on the left is the Cape York coast, and the end of 
the great Rocky Mountains — a bare, rough range of hills dropping off 
into Behring Sea at almost the extreme western point of North 
America. 

The " strike " was known early in August, but the first boatload 
did not reach Grantly and Behring City till August 26th. Between 
these two " cities" — for every settlement in Alaska is called a city — 
was a great rivalry as to which would be the city. In a few days the 
question was settled and Behring City, once called Port Clarence, fell 
hopelessly to the rear. 

There was the greatest confusion in Grantly, people taking up, or 
jumping, town lots, erecting tents and wooden houses with lumber at 



74 NOME NUGGETS. 

$160 a thousand, and holding town meetings to regulate size of lots, 
position of streets, laws, etc. The U. S. Commissioner and Recorder 
for the whole district, Judge Rognon, announced that he would stay in 
Grantly, practically settling the fate of Behring City. 

On the twenty-eighth of August, the people of Grantly changed 
the name of the town to Teller City, thus acquiring the post office 
privilege of the old and abandoned Teller City on the opposite side of 
Grantly Harbor. 

The new^ Teller City will be the gate to both the Kougarok and 
Bluestone Districts. These already more than rival Nome itself in 
richness. Teller has a capital harbor. It is .situated on the .sand spit 
which separates Port Clarence on the west from Grantly Harbor on 




Gold Run, the Phenomexally Rich Creek in the Bluestone District. 

the east. Almo.st in the middle of the city is a fresh water lake of 
considerable size. 

Grantly Harbor is the entrance to the very rich Kougarok Dis- 
trict, in which we acquired numerous claims. This district lies about 
seventy miles to the east and north of Teller City, and can be reached 
by boat up the river. The Kougarok country has a plentiful supply of 
timber, most of it being willow. Garfield and Quartz Creeks are the 
best known, and are proving very rich, .some ranking them higher than 
Anvil Creek. 

Gold Run Creek, where the great "strike" in the Bluestone was 
made, is about eighteen miles from Teller City and sixteen miles from 
Behring City. The trail runs over the worst country that was ever 



NOME\ NUGGETS. 75 

made, entirely void of trees, covered with moss and " niggerheads " — 
the only and original ' ' niggerhead ' ' that looks like a solid hummock of 
grass, and tips over at a touch, tending to sprain ankles or give bad 
falls. 

Gold Run is a tributary of the Bluestone River, or rather, it unites 
with the right fork of the Bluestone to form the river. Small boats 
can go up to within four miles of the mouth of the Gold Run, and 
many of the miners go in this wa}'. 

All this part of the country was located early in the spring, and 
then recorded in four different districts, there being then no recorder 
for the Bluestone District. This led to great confusion at first, as in 
some cases the same claim was recorded by different people. Gold 
Run was the great sufferer in this way, having been located under the 
name of Matilda, Eureka, and Gold Run, and having three discovery 
claims. Claim Number 9 above the mouth, for some strange rea.son 
was overlooked in the locating, and some ' ' chechakos " , or newcomers 
to Ala.ska, located it in July, making the " strike " of the .sea.son, for 
they found pay-dirt on the top of the creek bed that ran from 50 cents 
to $10.00 to the pan. 

The other claims, both up and down the creek, were immediateh' 
grabbed and prospected, and gold was found in great abundance. 

All of the Bluestone country is very desolate. Not a tree is to be 
seen, the only foliage being a few stunted willow bushes in the creek- 
beds. There are many salmonberries and blueberries, and some small 
flowers, but there is almost no life in the country at all. Once in a 
long while one sees a few ptarmigan, but they are too scarce to be re- 
lied on at all for food. The only thing of which there is a great plenty 
is water. 

The Government Reindeer Station is a few miles from Teller City. 
The Lapp and his wife, who are in charge there, go to town frequenth' 
to w^atch the rush for gold. They make a very picturesque sight as 
they wander about in their odd Lapland dress. 

There is a great future for the Bluestone District. It will be 
richer than anything the Klondike can boast, and the indications are 
that the claims of the Cape Nome Hydraulic Mining Company, located 
in this district alone, will clean up enough gold to more than satisfy 
the most exacting of the officers of this concern. 



CHAPTER VIII. ^ 

ROUTES TO THE GOLD FIELDS. 

THE shortest and quickest route from the States to the Nome 
region is by ocean steamer. From Seattle we traverse the north- 
ern Pacific Ocean and Behring Sea direct to Nome. The distance is 
about two thousand seven hundred miles ; and, under favorable circum- 
stances, ten days are required to make the trip. Some of the largest 
and most commodious steamers of the Pacific coast ply on this route. 
A stop for coal and w^ater is usually made at Unalaska, between the 
Pacific Ocean and Behring Sea. Freight rates from Seattle to Nome 
are usually quoted at $40 per ton, first cabin passenger rates $100, 
and second cabin $60. 

On account of the ice in Behring Sea, the season for ocean trans- 
portation to Nome is, as a rule, restricted to a period of five months, i. e. , 
from early June to early Novenber. During the remainder of the 3'ear 
the northwest coast of Alaska is icebound, and not accessible by 
vessels. 

Another summer route is the inland or Yukon route. This is by 
ocean steamer from Seattle to Skagway ; thence by the White Pass 
and Yukon Railway over the Coast Range to Lake Bennett, the head- 
waters of the Yukon. From there we go by boat down the Yukon to 
St. Michael, and there take steamer for Nome. This route is not 
nearly so direct or expeditious as the all-ocean route, frequent changes 
and delays being usually involved. There is a change of river steam- 
ers on the upper waters of the Yukon, covering Miles Canyon and 
White Horse Rapids. The portage around this is three miles by horse 
tramway. Skagway is open to ocean vessels the year round ; but, as 
the ice does not leave the lakes and the Upper Yukon until nearlj- 
June, the route offers little or no gain to the Nome-bound passenger, 
so far as reaching his destination early in the season is concerned. 
As a return route the Yukon is not practicable. No boats leave St. 
Michael later than the first week in September, on account of the ice 
which later in the month forms on its upper waters. The chief ad- 
vantage of the Yukon route consists in its enabling the passenger to 
escape an open sea voyage. 



NOME NUGGETS. 77 

Travel and transportation in the Nome region are principally by 
small boats, along the coast, waterways and streams of sufficient size. 
Across the countr}- there are as yet few definite or well-marked trails. 
The country is not, however, of so rugged a character but that one 
can, without much difficulty, proceed in almost any direction. During 
last summer several pack trains of horses were employed in conveying 
freight and supplies from Nome to the gulch diggings. Teaming by 
wagon to these points was also done. About Nome, during the sum- 
mer season, freighting is accomplished on wheeled vehicles drawn 
principally by dogs and horses, notwithstanding the fact that the 
undra is usually soft for horse footing. 




Dog Team and Piles of Freight, Nome Beach, July, 1900. 

Charles D. Lane built four miles of railroad from the beach, at 
Nome City, to Discovery Claim on Anvil Creek. The transportation 
facilities of this road were taxed to their utmost throughout the season, 
and the enterprise was immensely profitable. 

The use of dogs for sledding in this region has long been too 
well known to require further mention. The dog, however, is re- 
ported to be much surpassed by the reindeer, recently introduced into 
Alaska, especially in districts where the reindeer moss abounds, as on 
the Seward Peninsula. The chief advantage of the reindeer consists in 
the fact that it is not necessary to carrj^ fodder, since the deer can sub- 
sist upon the moss wdierever camp is made. There are at present some 
one thousand or one thousand two hundred government reindeer on the 



78 



NOME NUGGETS. 



Seward Peninsula, scattered principally in stations along the southern 
part and on the coast, with centers at Golovin Bay and Port Clarence. 
Dogs are usually scarce in Alaskan mining regions during the winter 
season, on account of the fact that many people are off with their dog 
teams for one purpose or another. At Nome last fall an average 
dog was worth from $50 to $100. A fair team generally consists of 
about nine dogs. In reindeer freighting the Lapland freight sled, 
shaped like a boat, is employed. A collection of these sledges was 
seen on Anvil Creek. Thev are usually drawn by one or two reindeer. 




.lAHLKS OF THE CAPE NOME HYDRAULIC MlXINl, CoMI'A.N\. 



Where real sleds are used the sleds are very low and the runners 
wide. A trained, or draft reindeer, is worth about $150. 

Unfortunately there are no harbor facilities for ocean vessels in 
the Nome region. The only representative, or semblance, in this line 
is the lagoon-like inlet known as Port Safety, about twenty-five miles 
east of Nome. It, however, is suitable only for small boats and for 
craft not drawing over eight feet of water. 

Port Safety, however, as stated, can in no wise accommodate sea- 
going vessels such as touch at Nome with freight and passengers. 
The nearest harbor for such vessels is Port Clarence, about seventy 
miles northwest of Nome. 



CHAPTER IX. 

RAILROAD BUILDING IN ALASKA. 

IF anybody had serioush^ suggested the construction of a railroad in 
any part of Alaska five years ago, as a good investment for capital, 
his sanity would have been questioned. But the territorj" has under- 
gone remarkable changes since then, and the subject of railroad con- 
struction through it may be discussed now as a sound business propo- 
sition. The success of the railroad constructed to tap the Klondike 
di^-trict, which was the direct outgrowth of the gold discoveries there, 
has been pronounced, and the original plans of its promoters have been 
broadened to meet the demands of increasing traffic and trade. The 
inhospitable wilderness of five years ago contains a large population 
now, whose necessities are great and the product of whose labors are 
worth more than $20,000,000 annually. 

In the light of the success of this enterprise, and the later discov- 
eries of auriferous wealth north of the Yukon, the construction of a 
railroad to join the extremities of the Nome mining district has been 
broached. 

The object of the proposed road is to connect Grantley Harbor, 
at the head of Port Clarence, the entrance to which is about seventy 
miles farther up the coast than Cape Nome, with the head of Golovin 
Bay, which is about forty miles this side of the Cape. As both of 
these elongated indentations in the northwestern Alaskan coast extend 
far inland, the termini of the projected railroad will be about eighty- 
five miles apart. The route will traverse a section of the country now 
being explored and surveyed, which there is every proof is as rich, if not 
richer, in mineral wealth as the territory nearer the coast. It will, 
also, provide a means of transporting supplies into the back region of 
the Nome mining district, for which adequate facilities are at present 
lacking, freight now being mo^'ed at a ruinous cost and at great risk 
to life and property. The prevalence of storms at Cape Nome this 
summer has demonstrated the insecurity of the open sea. Marine 
wrecks innumerable are strewn along the exposed coast, giving proof 
of the dangers besetting ocean commerce in that neighborhood. As 
everything indicates the settlement of a large permanent population 



82 NOME NUGGETS. 

in the district, harbor facihties must be obtained. Both Port Clarence 
and Golovin Bay provide them, and rich, gold-bearing ground has 
been discovered in the vicinity of each. 

The feasibility of extending this railroad ultimately to Nulato, 
one of the old Russian settlements on the lower reaches of the Yukon 
River, is most certain. The distance is only three hundred miles, as 
against six hundred and fifty miles from St. Michael. The object of 
this extension is to avoid the shallow and dangerous passages of the 
Yukon delta, which have been the terror of all who have taken the 
river route to the gold fields. The proposed railroad will, in time, form 
a section of the branch of the Canadian Pacific, which has been planned 
to extend from the main line, through the Klondike and down the 
Yukon valley, to Behring Sea, thence to the Behring Straits and 
across to Siberia, linking the Russian Empire with the United States 
by an all-rail route. 

A charter was recently granted to the Yukon and Behring Straits 
Railwa}' Company. This company proposes to have about one hinidred 
miles of road in operation before the closing in of the winter of 1901 
and 1902. This road will form the most important link in the 
New York to St. Petersburg chain of continuous railway, and will 
undoubtedly hasten the completion of the greatest of all railroad 
.systems. Manifestly, the development of Alaska's mineral wealth 
is opening up an era of railroad building in the North. 



CHAPTER X. 

ORIGIN OF THE GOLD DEPOSITS IN NORTHWESTERN ALASKA. 

THE Nome mining region is an ill-defined area in Northwestern 
Alaska. It lies near the entrance to Norton Sound, an arm of 
Behring Sea. It is named for an unimportant promontor^^ on the 
southern margin of the Seward Peninsula, which forms the northwest 
extremity of our continent, h'ing between the Arctic Ocean and Behring 
Sea (Map I). Captain Cook discovered it over a hundred 3'ears ago, 
and, .skirting its shores west and northward, charted mountains, head- 
lands and rivers, naming a number of them. Since then many vessels, 
and in recent times particularly those of the United States Revenue 
Service, have visited the coast and extended the exploration and map- 
ping. At present the United States Coast and Geodetic Surve}' is com- 
pleting this work. 

Nome City is situated directly on the sea coast, on the edge of the 
tundra, west of the cape which gives it its name, and east of another 
promontory called West Point. These two capes are about thirty 
miles apart. They are jutting extremities of a low mountain range, 
which curves around the tundra plain, defining a former shallow bay. 
Its outline is that of a low crescent, the inner curve being the even 
shore line (Map II). 

The beach, which is everywhere low and smooth, consists of a 
fringe or narrow belt of sand and gravel, its submarine portion being 
a gently sloping coastal shelf, with occasional low bars. During much 
of the time it is swept by heavy surf. 

The beach rises gradually to a sharply-cut bench, a hundred to 
two hundred yards from the surf. From the edge of this terrace, 
which is about twenty feet high, the moss-covered tundra extends 
inland, rising uniformly about two hundred feet in four or five miles, 
when it merges into the highland belt. In certain localities only do 
low terraces occur, apparently marking former stages in elevation 
above the sea level. The most pronounced of these terraces is about 
three miles northeast of Nome. 

Locally the surface of the tundra is roughened or pitted by small, 
mossy hummocks a foot or two in height, and with corresponding de- 



84 XOME NUGGETS. 

pressions. This condition of the surface, and the general flatness of 
the country, gives a stagnant drainage, which, together with the copious 
rainfaU and thaw of the underground frost, renders the tundra wet 
and swampy throughout the summer season. Many ponds dot certain 
areas ; and it is traversed by deep, shiggish rivers and small streams, 
taking tortuous courses from the mountains to the sea. The valleys 
of the larger streams are broad, with gentle slopes ; those of the 
smaller narrow and trenchant, their edges being apparently pro- 
tected from aerial erosion by the cover of moss. Along its northern 
edge the tundra merges into the alluvial flood plains of the larger 
valley's, thus extending into the mountains. 




Beach Office, Cape Nome Hydraulic Mining Company. 

The mountains ha\'e rounded slopes, broken here and there by 
steep escarpments, and ri.se to an elevation of one thousand to two 
thousand feet. 

At the .southern ba.se of the.se mountains, along the edge of the 
tundra, the contours are low and rounded, and there are no well-defined 
foothills. The floors of the main valleys are rather flat and from one 
to three miles wide. Snake River Valley is a good type of these. 
Proceeding northward, the mountains become more rugged and in- 
crease in height toward the axis of the range. Near the head of 
Snake River there are some peaks which, apparently, reach the eleva- 
tion of permanent snow\ 

About eig-ht miles north of Nome, between the heads of Anvil and 



NOME Ni'GGETS. 85 

Dexter Creeks, in the region on Mount King, some apparently marine 
benching and gravel terraces are found on the lower slopes of the 
mountains up to the height of about one thousand feet. They occur 
at irregular intervals, and mark successive stages in an elevation of the 
land which, probably, is still in progress. 

The drainage of the Nome region is all southward to the coast. 
The principal streams are Snake, Nome, Penny, Solomon, Bonanza 
and Cripple Rivers. These are usualh* navigable for small boats for 
eight or ten miles from the mouth, as far up as the creek and gulch 
diggings. The current is generally rather swift, even through the 
tundra, while in the mountains many of the tributaries become tor- 
rents. All the gold of this region has, so far, been obtained from 
placer deposits ; these can be conveniently grouped as gulch placers, 
bar placers, beach placers, tundra placers and bench placers. During 
la.st season those of the gulches and benches have been important gold 
producers. 

The amount of gold produced during the last season cannot be 
definiteh' estimated. From the best information I could gather, I be- 
lieve that the production of gold from the entire belt, during the season 
of 1900. will approach $7,000,000. 

The coarse gold, as far as present developments show, is largely 
confined to the creek and gulch diggings ; it ranges from the size of a 
pin head to nuggets weighing se\-eral ounces. Much of this gulch gold 
is about the size of No. 3 shot. 

The gold is usually rounded and often smoothly polished, /. e., 
having a water-worn character. In color it is dull, somewhat re- 
sembling tarnished brass. The nuggets are round and subangular, 
but .seldom flat. Small vitreous quartz masses are not infrequently 
found attached to the nuggets. 

The creek gold usually occurs on or very near bed rock, under a 
thickness of five to eight feet of gravel. In the diggings the pay streak 
is of varying thickness, although the gravel usually carries .some gold, 
or at least good colors, from the surface down. The flood plain — or 
gravel deposits of the stream — in or beneath which the gold occurs, 
when measured from rim rock to rim rock, \-aries in width on different 
creeks from twenty to se^'eral hundred feet. 

A cross section of the gravels, at any given point, would show the 
gold to be not evenly distributed, but, more or less, gathered into zones. 
This pa}- streak usually trends parallel with the creek valley, and 
simply marks an earlier channel of the creek when the gold was laid 



86 



NOME NUGGETS. 



down in its bed. It is not necessarily continuous, but often occurs in 
detached pockets which are sometimes very rich. 

The gravels occurring with these placers vary in size from medium 
to fine, and are usualh' poorly assorted with indistinct stratification. 
In the area examined by us on Anvil and Glacier Creeks, the pebbles 
were chiefly limestone and mica-schist, with much calcite and quartz 
of vein origin. All of these were frequently found to be highly 
mineralized. 

In washing the gravels of the gulches and the creeks much 
" rub}' sand " and " black sand " is obtained. The former is chiefly 
garnet and the latter magnite. These minerals, having a high specific 
gravity, are concentrated with the gold in the pay streaks. 




W.\TCiiix<; Tin: Panxing Oct of a Rich Pocket, 

In the lower reaches of Snake River, and of the other large streams, 
gold is reported to occur on the bars also, in apparenth' workable 
quantities. Here it is much finer than in the creeks and gulches, but 
not .so reduced as that in the beach. It is variously mingled with the 
gravels and the .sand constituting the bars ; and, like them, was de- 
posited b}- the ri\'ers and streams which brought the material from the 
creeks and gulches. It was on the bars of vSnake River that Nome 
gold was first discovered. 

The .statement, made by .some of the miners, that the gold becomes 
finer toward the tundra, and coarser toward the ocean, was not borne 
out bv observation. 



NOME NrCGETS. 87 

It is well known that the various forms of gold placers are sec- 
ondary deposits. The ultimate source of the gold is to be sought for 
in the bed rock, where it is usuall}- found in veins. In a new region, 
like that of Nome, the prospector naturalh' turns first to the deposits 
which will yield immediate profits. Therefore vein or quartz mining, 
as it is often called, receives but little attention. In the Arctic region, 
moreover, prospecting for mineral veins is much impeded by the thick 
coating of moss which covers most of the surface of the country. We 
have, therefore, but little definite information in regard to mineral 
veins of the region. 

As far as it goes, this evidence points to a derivation of the gold 
from the mineralized veins and country rock above described. I wish 
to emphasize this because of the prevalent idea that the placer gold has 
been brought from great distances by the action of ice, or through 
some convulsion of Nature. This is a complete misconception, for 
there is no evidence whatever of glacial action, and all the facts point 
to a local source of the gold. As placer gold can only move downhill 
from the parent rock, it is evident that the source of the gold in the 
creeks and gulches must be sought within their drainage basins. I 
do not wish to imply, however, that mineralized veins of commercial 
value must neces.sarily be found in the vicinity of the rich placers. 
Such has not been proved the case in man}- other placer regions. The 
gold of the parent rock may not be in a sufficiently concentrated form, 
or the cost of mining, becau.se of local conditions, may be too great for 
profitable exploitation. 

A very important consideration, moreover, in regard to the rich- 
ness of placers, is that they have often derived their gold from immense 
masses of rock. The agents of erosion are constanth* attacking the 
bed rock of any given area, reducing it to gravel, sand and mud, which 
streams carry seaward and re-deposit in various forms. A heavy sub- 
stance like gold, which may have been disseminated through the rock, 
is concentrated during this process by the sorting action of water, and 
thus placers are formed. The richness of a placer, therefore, may 
quite as likely point to a previous erosion of great masses of bed rock 
as to rich and individual veins. I repeat, therefore, that rich placers 
cannot be considered conclusive evidence of the presence of rich gold 
veins in the region. 

In the foregoing the gold has been traced back to its .source in the 
bed rock. The placers of the gulches, which lie adjacent to this 
source, have been shown to contain the coarest gold and to include the 



88 NOME NUGGETS. 

richest deposits. The gold in the tundra, having been transported a 
greater distance than that of the gulches, it is of a finer grain ; while 
that of the beach, where it has been subjected to the wearing action of 
waves, is still finer. The life history of a gold nugget in this region 
is somewhat as follows : 

When the nugget is freed from the parent rock, by the disinte- 
grating agencies, it has an angular form. It is washed down to the 
gulches and gradually becomes subrounded. By some accident of 
erosion the gulch placer may be disturbed ; and the nugget, again 
moved and still further reduced in size, finds its way to the tundra 
deposits. By the shifting of the shore line it nia>' subsequently be 
exposed to wave action, ground down still smaller, and eventually 
be borne as flake or flour gold. 

I expand this elementary idea as to the origin of gold deposits, 
because of a misconception among some of the miners in the Nome 
region that the sea has washed up the gold and deposited it on the 
beach. It is even asserted, by some, that the waves are constantly 
adding gold to the beach placers by bringing it up from the depths of 
the ocean. 

The practical criteria suggested for locating these old buried 
shore-line and old stream-channel pay streaks, without actual pros- 
pecting, are those of topography. 

In the location of the old stream-channel pay streaks one should 
look for portions of old, dry or shallow valleys, or draws ; the general 
alignment, or trend, of depressions or ponds in the surface of the tundra, 
represents the course of former waterways or stream channels. 

On the creeks and in the gulches the process of mining consists of 
stripping, damming, ground sluicing and box sluicing. In some cases 
rockers are also used. The gold found here is, generally, coarse ; so 
that its separation from the associated black and ruby sand, found 
with it in the sluice box, is not a difiicult task. Further separation is 
accomplished by first panning, then blowing ; and, finally, the employ- 
ment of a hand magnet in the case of the magnetic black sand. On 
some of the gulches, where water is scarce for sluicing purposes, it is 
propo.sed to raise water from neighboring streams. The Charles D. 
Lane Company are preparing to work their rich prospects on Dexter 
and adjacent creeks in this way, by means of a pumping plant already 
installed on the bank of Snake River. 



CHAPTER XI. 

FLORA AND FAUNA. 

THE .striking feature of the Nome region, with re.spect to vegeta- 
tion, is the absence of timber. The tundra has been referred to 
as a fiat treeless, moss-covered waste. In this it differs Httle from the 
barren lands of the Arctic coast. Not a tree is to be seen, and in mo.st 
places not a bush or shrub of any sort. The nearest approach to any- 
thing like timber in the region is a dwarfed or stunted growth of alder 
and willow. This shrubberv, or bushwood, rarely attains more than 




Dr. O. W. McMiCHAEL, Surgeon of the Cape Nome Hydr.aulic Minlng Co., 
WITH Pack Horse bOLLOWiNG. 

three or four feet in height and seldom three inches in diameter. It 
appears principally along the edges of some of the valleys, and on the 
creeks and gulches in the lower reaches of the mountains ; it is some- 
times found croviched in fringes closeh' hugging the stream beds in the 
tundra. It is unsuitable for camping, and wholly inadequate for 
cabin-building and mining purposes. This absence of timber is assign- 
ed b}- Professor F. V. Colville, United States Botanist, who has visit- 
ed the region, to the rigors of the Arctic climate. 

From the reports of Dr. Sheldon Jackson and Captain Jarvis, the 



90 NOME NUGGETS. 

Port Clarence region is similarly destitute, while the absence of timber 
in the St. Michael region is well known. Some timber, however, 
occurs in the Golovin Bay region, as may be seen from the following 
account of Captain Jarvis concerning his Oyerland Relief Expedition 
to Point Barrow in 1S97 and i8g8 : 

"The timber here, which is presumably spruce, with some poplar, 
Cottonwood, alder and willow, probably owes its existence and preser- 
vation to the more sheltered condition of the region. On the southern 
edge of Golovin Bay, is a good heavy growth of timber, but the west 
side is bare. In a few valleys of Golovin vSound was a sparse growth 
of trees, but, except for a few visible in the distance in the Kotzebue 
Sound region, we saw no more trees in all the country we travelled 
through from here to Point Barrow." 

Though the Nome region grows no timber, there is another source 
of fuel supply on this bleak coast. It consists of drift wood, or timber, 
cast ashore by the sea. Here it has been left in a great windrow, ex- 
tending almo.st continuously along the beach near the base of the 
tundra, while in the estuaries, embayments and tidal lagoons the ac- 
cumulation is often very great, covering many acres in area. This 
driftwood consists principally of trunks and stumps of trees, forming 
logs often from twenty to forty feet in length and two or more feet in 
diameter, many of which are still in a fair state of preservation. The 
timber is principally Alaska spruce, though other varieties are report- 
ed. It has come from the Yukon River and distant shores. Some 
logs bearing the brand of Puget Sound sawmills are reported to have 
been found. The value of this driftwood to Nome and the prospector 
during last season, both as fuel and in the construction of winter cabins, 
can hardly be over-estimated. At points away from Nome its use to 
the prospector will probably continue for sometime to come. For so 
great a population as that of Nome, however, the supply is necessarily 
limited, so that little or no reliance .should be placed upon it for 
future use. 

In the Nome region, both on the tundra and in the larger valleys, 
occurs a patchy but fair growth of grass, suitable for the support of 
horses, cattle and sheep during the .summer months. In certain local- 
ities the reindeer, also, are reported to feed upon it in the green state. 
It does not, however, so far as observed, seem to be suitable for hay. 
Wild flowers, abound in great profusion, and some herbs, presumably 
of the Arctic flora type, are reported to occur. 

The principal wild fruits occurring in the region are the blueberry 



NOME NUGGETS. 



91 



and the salmonberry. The latter is quite common. In some localities 
on the peninsula it is preserved b}^ the missionaries and natives for 
winter use. 

The principal, and most universal, vegetation in the Nome region 
is moss. It is of the true Siberian or Arctic tundra type of the East- 
ern continent. It covers with a dense growth the entire Nome tundra, 
and in many localities extends into the mountains. According to Dr. 
Sheldon Jack.son, of the Bureau of Education, the moss covering the 
tundra flats about Nome, is of two kinds. The- larger portion of it is 
the Sphagnum. Mixed with this is the " reindeer moss" proper, the 




Traveling with Reindeer. 

scientific name of which is cladonia rangiferina. On this latter moss 
the reindeer thrives at all seasons of the year. 

Vegetation attains its maximum growth in late July and earh' 
August. Then verdure and wild flowers abound, giving a great vari- 
ety of colors ; but they do not flourish long. Scarcely has the season 
emerged from spring and the snow disappeared, when it passes into 
autumn, with its blighting frosts, indicative of the approaching winter. 
These summer days are long. From late May to early July it is daylight 
nearly all the time, with night scarcely perceptable at the time of sum- 
mer solstice ; in August the length of the day begins rapidl}- to decrease. 



92 NOME NUGGETS. 

The winters will probably average ten or more degrees milder 
than at the Fortymile and Klondike region, in the same latitude in 
the interior. They are not much colder than in some parts of the 
United States. The minimum temperature, or greatest cold, seems to 
occur at about the middle of January, at which time the thermometer 
rarely descends to more than 30° below zero. From late October to 
earh' April, however, for a period of nearh^ six months, there are said 
to be but few days on which the thermometer rises above the freezing 
point. Snow begins to fall on the mountains about the middle of Sep- 
tember. Blizzards are frequent. They begin in November and are 
usually of several da}s duration, although some have been known to 
last for weeks in the month of February. They usually come from 
the north or northeast. The snow-fall is not heavy, but the snow 
drifts greatly. It comes with the prevailing winter winds, which are 
usually from the north and northeast, especially the latter. A west 
wind denotes clear weather, during which the display of northern lights 
is said to be sublime. The fallen snow is peculiarly dry-frozen, so 
that pieces of it when struck together give a clinking, metallic .sound. 
The ice attains a thickness of from four to five feet, but Behring Strait, 
the channel between Seward Peninsula and Siberia, is rarely, if ever, 
frozen over by a continuous .sheet of ice. Only rarely can the Diomede 
Islands, in the middle of the channel, be reached on the ice. Accord- 
ing to Captain Jarvis, solid ice usually extends beyond the shore from 
five to .six miles ; outside this is open water with fields of ice drifted 
about by the wind. Even in the coldest weather the natives go out to 
this open water to hunt .seal. Nearly every year .some of them are 
carried away, and almost perish from starvation before the ice field 
drifts near enough land, to enable them to leave it and reach the shore. 
In the spring water begins to flow in the creeks and rivers toward the 
latter part of May, about the .same time the ice breaks up in the Yukon 
country. The Nome coa.st is free from ice earlier in the spring and later 
in the fall than the coast about St. Michael Harbor ; but usually the 
fields of drift and shore ice do not sufficiently disappear to permit the 
approach of vessels before the loth of June. As it begins to form again 
about five months later, ve.s.sels should not count on leaving the region 
later than early November. When played upon by the wind and tide, 
the drift ice is said to often pile up to a height of one hundred feet or 
more along the .shore. 

The climate, though for the mo.st part moist and rainy, may be 
said to be generally healthful in summer. It is exceedingly rigorous 



NOME NUGGETS. 93 

when cold weather sets in, making common severe colds and pulmonary 
troubles, especially pneumonia. Drainage and water supply last sea- 
son were poor ; thus typhoid fever, often complicated by pneumonia, 
was frequent and not rareh* fatal. 

In the Nome region, and on the greater part of Seward Peninsula 
large game of almost every kind is rather scarce. The principal in- 
digenous land quadruped is the Arctic hare. Some lynx are also said 
to occur. Only occasionally is a caribou or bear to be seen. Of the 
feathered tribe, the ptarmigan, grou.se and Arctic fowl are all indigenous 
and common, while during the short summer season man}- species of 
temperate-climate birds visit the region. 

Vast quantities of water fowl rise from the streams and lakes in 
some localities. A majority of the rivers are so filled with fish, that 
the means used for luring the finny denizens of the deep from their 
native element in almost all civilized countries are discarded, and a 
more .simple, unsportsmanlike, but effective bucket, .shovel and club sup- 
ply the place of rod and line. 

The salmon and trout are undoubtedly among the finest in the 
world. Some idea of the quantities of them running up the rivers ma}- 
be gained from my experience in crossing the Solomon River on horse- 
back, when the animal that I was riding became so frightened by the 
salmon darting around his legs as to be nearly unmanageable. 

A never ending school of these magnificent fish seemed to be con- 
stantly going up or down this stream during the open season. 

' ' Quail Creek ' ' is said to be so named on account of the ptar- 
migan, or willow partridge, being so numerous as to be easily dispatch- 
ed with a stick. The early discoverers, while " long " in mining ex- 
perience, were .so "short" on orthography as to be unable to spell 
ptarmigan, and said, "Oh, let's call it quail", and quail it is, — al- 
though it is absolutely certain that no quail has ever been seen in the 
vicinity of the .stream. On account of these birds' exceeding stu- 
pidity the Eskimos in their language call them ' ' fool-birds ' ' . 

This ptarmigan is found in greater numbers than any other Arc- 
tic bird .south of the Behring Straits. His coat of white in winter af- 
fords him protection by making him invisible at a short distance among 
the snow and ice. 

The reindeer are not numerous, despite the well-directed and de- 
termined efforts of the Government to protect and propagate this valu- 
able animal. It may be truly said that every part of the reindeer is 
put to some use. The flesh is darker and coarser than the ordinar}- 



94 ■ NOME NUGGETS. 

venison, but very sweet and wholesome. The tongue and marrow are 
great delicacies ; the blood, of which not a single drop is allowed to es- 
cape, IS either drunk warm or made up in a kind of black pudding. The 
skin furnishes not only clothing impervious to the cold, but tents and bed- 
ding as well. Spoons, knife-handles and other household utensils are 
made out of the bones and horns. The latter, with the hoofs, serves 
for making an excellent glue. The native boots, or mukluks, are made 
like a moccasin shaped boot, tightly and carefully sewn, so as to be 
perfectly waterproof and the soles are made soft and pliable. The 
women chew the leather until it attains the desired condition. 




ll]-.kij Ki,i.M>ivi,K, l'i)l.\ 1 liAkKiiw, Alaska. 



The fur-bearing animals, such as the Arctic fox, polar bear, martin, 
sable and wolverine, are not numerous enough to make the fur trade — 
so important in the interior and on the northwestern side of Behring 
Straits — of any considerable consequence. 

Fishing is carried on, in a small way, b>- nati\'es along the great- 
er part of the coast ; but more especially on the larger streams. The 
principal fish is the salmon. Here, as elsewhere in Alaska, this and 
the cod are the fish upon which the native largely relies for his supply of 
winter food. Salmon-trout are also common, and fine rock-cod occur 
as far north as Cape Prince of Wales. Along the Nome coast a species 



NOME NUGGETS. 95 

of herring or smelt, very plentiful and of a fine flavor, is known 
to occur. A species of large crab, much like the Pacific coast crab, 
delicious and much used as food, is found at Golovin Bay and as 
far north as Cape Prince of Wales. 

The hair-seal is common all along the coast, and becomes abun- 
dant towards Cape Prince of Wales. Economically it is an important 
animal to the native, on account of its store of meat and oil and, 
especially, the skin for clothing, foot wear and sundry uses. The seal 
are taken in both summer and winter. As I before stated the natives 
go out on the ice six or eight miles from shore where a few seal can 
be procured at the edge of the open sea. The natives are also report- 
ed to take a whale or two along the coast almost every year. They 
sell the bones, while the carcass is appropriated for food. 

The dog is indeed the best friend of man in Alaska, as he furnishes 
by far the most reliable means of transportation. There are three 
varieties ; the huskys, that come from the neighborhood of the McKen- 
zie River ; the siw-ash and the mahlemut, the latter two varieties being 
found over almost all that section. They are strong, hardy animals, 
descendants of the Siberian wolf, which is still numerous enough in the 
interior to make them a source of great anxiety to the reindeer herders. 

When the Alaskan dog breeder discovers that his stock is de- 
teriorating b}^ inbreeding, he visits some wolf infested section with his 
stud bitches, and leaves them free, for a term, to mingle with the vari- 
ous packs. In such case he relies on the instinct which usually brings 
the wandering dogs home to their master, or he tethers them in the 
runways frequented by the packs, until the desired result is attained. 
The hardy animal bred as above described retains many of the character- 
istics of the pure wolf. He never barks, but howds and whines. He 
remains very tractable, and is nearly always a faithful and willing 
servant, guard and companion. 



CHAPTER XII. 

IN CONCLUSION. 

TO those who contemplate going to iVlaska, to battle with the cli- 
mate, to cross almost impassable country, to ford streams nearly 
as cold in the summer as they are during the long Arctic winters, I 
would say, "don't ". 

I sa}' this with full knowledgde that many men succeed in making 
fortunes in that country, but it requires some capital and unlimited 
nerve and determination. Gold is there in untold quantities, though 
it is not for the average man ; and when such an one stumbles upon 
it, as such sometimes do, it is by the merest chance. 

The gold seeker in Alaska should be a man of iron nerve and con- 
stitution. 

He should, by all means, possess some practical knowledge of 
gold-mining. 

He should have an objective point, about which he must obtain 
all the accurate information possible before starting. 

He should be supplied with a perfect outfit, or equipment, for the 
season in the far north. 

He should have money to carry out his cherished plans. He shall 
not be able, in the vicinity of any of the great mining camps of Alaska, 
to locate an inch of ground. 

He must either purchase claims, or interests in claims, or wander 
far from the present mining districts, on long and costly prospecting 
tours to obtain anything of value. 

The thousands who return from the Nome regions, condemning 
the country, are like the hundreds and thousands who have returned 
from ever}' gold rush known. 

Many of the disappointed arrived on the gold fields without a dol- 
lar in their pockets or a penny's worth of supplies, with the mad idea 
that they would be able to wash out gold enough, during their first 
day on shore, to purchase the much needed dinner. 

They returned from California in the early fifties, denouncing the 
country and all who remained in it. The>' did the same from the Com- 
stock and Body regions later ; and, still later, from Leadville and Crip- 



NOME NUGGETS. 97 

pie Creek. Yet all these regions have yielded millions, and extensive 
mining operations are still being carried on snccessfully. In Australia, 
and South Africa the story has been the same. 

The human failure is loud in his denunciation of everything and 
ever}-body. 

He failed at mining, as he had failed in ever\-thing he had engaged 
in previoush', and will fail in everything else he does on his own ac- 
count. 

The riches of Alaska have been proved too conclusiveh' to require 
defence at my hands here. 

The Government records show that more gold has been taken out 
of the Seward purchase than from any one section on the face of the 
globe in the same time ; and it is universalh- conceded that the authori- 
ties have no record of fully one-half of the output of that territory. 

The individual miner observes, in manj' cases, the mo.st profound 
secrecy concerning his ' ' find ' ' . 

The successful Alaskan miners have disposed of their gold in 
Nome, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Chicago and other cities scat- 
tered throughout the far and middle west, not a few of them bringing 
gold to the New York market. 

The establishment of a government assay office at Nome City 
would have greath^ increased the record of gold in the peninsula. In 
Alaska, as in fact ever^'where else, everything depends upon the peo- 
ple in charge of operations. 

Judgment and skill, untiring energy and experience nowhere count 
for so much as on a gold field. 

Some of the very best mines in Alaska have been, in the hands of 
incompetent men, total failures for a long time, and, later, under 
proper conditions, sources of enormous revenue. 

Purchase no claims without being positive that the title is perfect. 
In dealing with Alaskan matters, as well as in nearly all others, patron- 
ize, as far as possible, old and well-known concerns. 

Do not make the mistake of thinking that a few seasons will 
see the end of successful mining operations in Northwestern Alaska. 

It is the opinion of the best informed experts that the mining in- 
dustr}' will still be in its infanc}' in this region in twent}' j'ears from 
now. 

In the mean time well equipped individuals and well organized 
companies will amass colossal fortunes, the right kind of Alaskan se- 
curities will pay enormous dividends ; while thousands will fail, and 



98 XOME NrGGETS. 

hundreds will lose their lives and be buried in the eternal ice of the 
Polar region. 

That the countr}- has a wonderful future, no one, who has studied 
the conditions which make it what it is, doubts. Some of the economic 
features of this section, as against other rich placer camps in the 
Northw^est are, first, the ease with which it is possible to arrive there. 
In landing from the steamer, the moment your foot presses terra firma, 
you maj' consider yourself in touch with valuable mining ground. 
There are no mountains to cross, no long rivers with their ever present 
dangers to travel. 

As everything can be bought on the ground, of men who know 
your needs, no six months' "mushing" in supplies over wintry trails 
is necessary. No tolls, duties, royalties, will be incurred, because the 
country belongs to Uncle vSam, and you are allowed to suppose (until 
you get there) that the people have some voice in making the laws 
which govern them. 

About the first of October, those of our party who did not remain 

at Nome for the wdnter, embarked on the S. S. , bound for 

Seattle. After being a few days at sea, the boilers gave out — tubes 
leaking so as to put fires out — and we spent a day or more rolling in 
the trough of the sea, while they were repaired. After we had resumed 
our journey for another twent3^-four hours, they again broke down, 
and this time fortj^-eight hours were consumed in their repair. I was 
requested to approach the captain of the vessel, and ask that we put 
into Dutch Harbor, then not far away, for repairs. The captain very_ 
frankly told me that if we should there meet a revenue cutter, and the 
condition of the boilers should become known to them, we would not 
be allowed to proceed to Seattle, and might be compelled to remain in 
Dutch Harbor indefinitely. I really wanted to see Dutch Harbor, as 
w^e had not stopped there on our voyage north, but I had no desire to 
remain there indefinitely, so I agreed with him that the best thing we 
could do would be to ' ' take chances ' ' and continue our voyage as best 
we could. 

It became necessary, during the three weeks we consumed in 
reaching Seattle, to stop several times more to repair the boilers. Had 
a storm overtaken us, we should have been entirely at its mercy. 

When the voyage was about half over, provisions ran short, and 
we were compelled to dispense with one of our daily meals. The 
S. S. "City of Nome" was encountered at sea, and we secured some 
provisions from her. Altogether it was a most uncomfortable voyage. 



NOME NUGGETS. 99 

On the majority of vessels g^oing to and coming from Nome, the 
stewards were men who were working their passage and who received 
no wages. It will readily be seen that the service the\' performed was 
anj-thing but satisfactor3\ 

All vessels carried many stowaways. In one instance, so many 
were discovered on board, that the captain put back, had ever}' pas- 
senger go ashore, made a thorough search for stowaways, and finally 
checked everybody off as they came on board. 

Nome is not an agreeable place in which to live, as, outside of 
gold, the country has very few inducements to offer. There are many 
natural disadvantages to contend with, chief among which is the entire 
absence of wood, saving a limited amount of driftwood on the beach. 
Consequently all lumber for building and mining purposes has to be 
transported from long distances, mostly from Puget Sound ports ; coal 
and oil for fuel have to be supplied from outside sources. This 
season, as coal has been discovered in the neighborhood, the fuel 
question may now be solved. 

Ver}' few enterprises can be brought to a successful issue, in an}- 
walk of life, until the price for their production has been paid in full, 
whether in work, hardship, or other peace offering equally valuable. 

Those who go to these northern placers will find it no exception 
to the general rule. However much fortune may bestow on them, 
they will come away with the impression that they have earned every 
cent of it. 

With the difficulties of transportation, the enormous first cost of 
manufactures, and the hard task of organization overcome, we look 
forward to the time when the breaking up of the ice in Behring Sea 
will enable us to return to our task and begin work immediately. We 
will no longer be obliged to put in the long and tedious work of ex- 
periment that retarded our efforts and exhausted our strength and 
capital the first season. 

[..cfO. 



APPENDIX. 



AMERICAN MINING LAWS. 

The general mining laws of the United vStates, moulded after those of the 
State of Oregon, are applicable to Alaska. A brief outline of the placer laws are 
as follows : 

No single individual can locate more than one claim, consisting of twenty 
acres, and no association of persons can locate more than one hundred and sixty 
acres in the same locality, which association, to obtain the maximum quantity, 
must be composed of no less than eight bona fide locators. 

All mining ground outside the limits of an organized district can be organized 
into a separate district, b}' the joint presence of six men who have located claims 
in this new part of the countr}-. They are allowed to elect a recorder, with whom 
records of claims are filed, to define the limits of the district, manner of making 
locations, and to fix limits of time for all claims to be recorded ; amount of assess- 
ment work to be done, also to limit and define all local arrangements, consisting 
of handling debris, rights of way, and use of water from creeks and ditches, etc. 

No local laws or regulations can restrict one from locating twenty acres, if he 
so desires, but he is not compelled to take that amount. 

No local mining association can pass laws in conflict with any United States 
mining laws. 

If ground has been previously surveyed, placer claims must conform to legal 
subdivisions, not to exceed twenty acres for each claim. 

A patent for land claimed or located under the United States mining laws, 
applicable to Alaska, may be obtained after I500 worth of work has been done for 
each individual claim, or fraction thereof, by application to proper authorities. 
The price per acre for placer ground is $2.50. 

If a placer claim contains a vein or lode of quartz running through the same, 
the locator of the placer claim has no claim whatever to the vein or lode, unless 
special reference is made in the notice, giving the exact locality and general direc- 
tion of vein, or lode, within the limits of the claim. 

In applying for a patent a survey must be made of the lode, and twenty-five 
feet on either side of the same, and paid for at the rate of f 5.00 per acre. 

Failure to comply with any of these requirements, forfeits all rights to quartz 
veins within the limits of the placer claim. 

The mining laws of the United States apply only to the citizens thereof, or 
those who have declared their intention to become such. 

No lode claim can contain more ground than a parallelogram one thousand 
five hundred by six hundred feet. 

No more than one location can be made for each locator on the same vein, ex- 
cept of original discoverer, who is allowed two. 

All lode locations, to be legal, must be known to contain some recognized 



AMERICAN MINING LAWS. loi 

mineral, either in vein, ledge, lode, chute or chimney, with at least one well-de- 
fined wall, where a discovery notice must be posted, containing the name of locator, 
description of the claim, its limits and general direction. The location must be 
properly bounded by posts, or monuments (with proper inscriptions), at each angle 
and one at each centre end. 

The location of a quartz claim must be filed for record in a similar way to that 
of a placer claim, with someone to act in that capacity. It is also customary to 
send a certificate of record to the general land commissioner of that district. 

The sum of one hundred dollars must be expended yearly in assessment work. 
All locations date from the first day of January next following the date of lacation. 

It is provided by the Act of Reciprocity by the United States as to mining 
claims in Alaska : That native born citizens of the Dominion of Canada shall be 
accorded, in said district of Alaska, the same mining rights and privileges ac- 
corded to citizens of the United States in British Columbia and the Northwestern 
Territory, by the laws of the Dominion of Canada or the local laws, rules and regula- 
tions, but no greater rights shall be thus accorded that citizens of the United States, 
or persons who have declared their intention to become such, may enjoy in said 
district of Alaska, and the Secretary of the Interior shall from time to time prom- 
ulgate, and enforce rules and regulations to carry this into effect. (Approved 
May 14th, 1898). 

(It is rather doubtful how far this act is in force at present, considering the fact 
that there is an alien exclusion act in force in British Columbia at present.) 

After gold is found in paying quantities, stake the ground and put up your 
location notice, which should read as follows : 

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the undersigned, in compliance with the 
requirements of the Revised Statutes of the United States, ha... this day located 
the following described Placer Mining Ground, viz : 



COMMENCING AT. 



situate in the Mining District. 

of 

This claim shall be known as the 

Placer Mining Claim. 



Located day of . 



POWER OF ATTORNEY. 
The United States Mining Laws permit the staking of claims, for non-residents, 
through a Power of Attorney. This law was taken advantage of hy the miners in 
the Nome district, and serious trouble is likely to result. This law should be done 
away with as soon as possible. Miners who arrive on the ground a little late find 
that everything is staked for people who never expect to work the ground. 



102 AMERICAN MINING lAWS. 

For the benefit of the reader a copy of the Power of Attorney is attached : 
KNOW Alvlv MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, That the undersigned 

citizen of the 

United States made, constituted and appointed 

true and lawful attorney, for and in name to locate, 

stake and record for lode claim and placer niining ground in the 



Also, having located the same, to bargain, sell, grant, release and convej- the 
same, entire or in separate parcels, to make proper deeds, and acknowledge and 

deliver the same to such person as 

attorney may desire, hereby ratifying and confirming all lawful acts done by 

said attorney by virtue thereof. 

(SEAL) 

(SEAL) 

(SEAL) 



On this day of i , before me, a. 



appeared 

personally known to me as the person whose name subscribed to 

the foregoing Power of Attorney, and acknowledged the execution thereof as 

free act and deed, for the purpose therein mentioned. 

Given under my hand and seal the day and year first above written. 

Dated i 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



017 297 743 1 



